(Don't) Change My Heart
by ArtistFox
Summary: Katie Holt's life was consistently normal, and she likes it like that, thank you very much. Each day she goes through her routine. It's fine. She doesn't need anything surprising happening. But then, a handsome new man appears in the shop she works in, and changes follow shortly after. But it's not like she'll let that get to her. She'll still have a completely normal life...Right?
1. Chapter 1

**AF: Hey hey hey! ArtistFox here! Welcome to my story! Before we begin, I have a few things to say. One, this is an au for a show about space Power Rangers who fight monsters in robotic lions, it will not be 100% accurate to real life. Two, Rover is a snake. Yes, I actually have a pet corn snake at home, so I know how snakes work. Rover will most likely not act like a real snake sometimes.**

 **And Three, just have fun reading! That's this story's entire purpose after all, to entertain! Please don't criticize too harshly, but I'm open for constructive criticism. I repeat, constructive. I hope yo enjoy this story! Oh, one more thing, ArtistFox does not own anything in this story. I do not own Voltron, nor any references. I don't want to get sued. Alright, now, on with the story!**

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Bright early morning sunlight drifted through the crack in the window's curtains, illuminating the small lump curled up on the bed. The figure buried deep in the blankets snored on, not being bothered by the bird chatter nor the distant voices of people already up and about. The peace was suddenly shattered by the phone on the bedside table. Its custom alarm shrieked and buzzed, yelling at its owner to get up already. A small groan emitted from the blankets, and a petite hand snaked out and patted around the bedside table. It fumbled for a bit before finding the phone, mechanically hitting the snooze button. It only had time to slither back under the warm cover of blankets before the door was practically slammed open.

"Good morning Pidge! I won't let you be late for work today, we have a new shipment coming in!" A tall tanned woman marched into the room and pulled open the widow's blinds. The figure on the bed hissed and pulled the blankets closer around them.

"No." She mumbled. "Too early. Go away Allura."

With a large smile on her face, the Allura ripped the blankets off. The petite woman on the bed yelped and covered her head with her pillow.

"Mnph tph merlph…" Her muffled whine and head shake made Allura roll her eyes.

"I'm not above literally dragging you from the bed, Katie Holt. Get up." Her words were greeted with another headshake. Sighing, the woman rolled up her sleeves. "You give me no choice then." She seized the younger girl's ankles and pulled with surprising strength. Pidge, however, was expecting this, and grabbed onto the bars of her bed's headboard and refused to let go. Allura propped her foot on the foot of the bed and pulled harder. Pidge still hung on, now suspended above the mattress.

"Let. Go!" Allura grunted and propped both feet on the bed for leverage. Pidge prided herself for being more stubborn than most, and she wasn't going to let Allura have the satisfaction of out stubborn-ing her. Finally, Allura huffed and let go. She put her hands on her hips in frustration. If they were going to get to work on time, she would have to take drastic measures.

"If you don't get up now, I'll pour the coffee I brought you down the drain." Pidge stiffened and peeked out from under her arm.

"You wouldn't."

"I would. And I will. I'm going to do it right now." Turning on her heel, Allura strode out of the room. Pidge was frozen for a second, and then scrambled off of her bed.

"Wait! I'm up I'm up! Just don't hurt the coffee, you monster!" Allura appeared from around the doorframe holding a steaming cup. With a smirk, she handed it to her friend.

"There, now go get ready. I'll be waiting in the living room, keeping your phone hostage until you're done." Pidge's head whipped around to find that, yes, her phone indeed was missing from its power cord. Scowling, she called out to Allura as she walked down the hallway.

"I regret ever giving you a key to my apartment!" Allura said nothing, only waved a perfectly manicured hand. Pidge sighed and took a gulp of coffee. It burned as it went down, but at least it woke her up a bit. She grabbed her uniform from the closet and stepped into the bathroom. Grumbling, Pidge tried to brush her teeth as fast as possible; Allura could be a real grump if kept waiting too long.

Allura, while one of her best friends, was also her boss. She ran a small yet successful pet shop located about a block away from Pidge's apartment. When Pidge had just finished her junior year of high school, she had been fired from her previous job working as an assistant librarian. Apparently programing the computers during her free time to make them play jump-scares whenever she pressed a key on her own key board was a big "no-no" in the librarian's rule-book. It was worth it though to see the girl who had been sticking gum under the desk shriek like a banshee and topple over backwards. That's why you don't balance on the back two chair legs, kids.

Pidge had been fortunate enough to meet Allura through one of her childhood friends, Lance McClain, who had already been working for her for about a year. It turned out that Allura was short workers and was hiring, so Pidge immediately snatched up the job before anyone else could get their grubby little fingers on it.

At first, it was not as fun as she was expecting. She was strictly on stocking and cleaning duty for the first few months of being employed. Lance had dubbed her "Queen of the Cleaning Supplies", which honestly wasn't surprising, he was the reason why she had the popular nickname "Pidge" anyway. Thankfully, it wasn't too long before Pidge could handle the animals. Now, with her just finishing her freshman year in college, she was in charge of the reptiles, amphibians, and arachnids. Feeding them, cleaning their terrariums, and generally just making sure they were happy and healthy.

Pidge pulled on her dark navy blue shorts and white button down top. It wasn't the most fashionable uniform, but at least it was better than the ones at Galra Outfitters down the street. Lance and Allura wore the same thing, only Allura, being the owner and all, wore a light navy blue vest with a pink border.

Looking in the mirror, Pidge tried to corral her unruly short hair into a small bun, and pinned the 'Hello, my name is Pidge' badge onto her shirt. Once she was done with her morning routine, she stepped out of the bathroom and unceremoniously threw her pajamas into her hamper. Allura looked up from her spot on the couch and smiled when Pidge entered the room.

"Breakfast is on the counter." Yawning, Pidge sipped her lukewarm coffee and nodded.

"Thanks." She picked up the blueberry scone from the counter and took a bite. It was still warm, and the gooey, sweet center made her sigh in contentment. Nothing beat one of Hunk's scones in the morning. Pidge plopped down on the couch next to Allura and took another bite.

"You've eaten yet?" The woman nodded as she fixed her ponytail. Even in the ungodly hours of the morning, Allura still looked perfect. Flawless skin and a figure that women would kill, hide the body, and move to Canada for. She also had gorgeous white hair that flowed down her back. And no, it wasn't dyed, Pidge had asked. Allura just shrugged, saying that it was natural.

Pidge swiped a strand of her own dirty blond hair behind her ear and continued to munch on her breakfast. The scone was gone in two more bites. Wiping her hands on her pants, Pidge looked down and saw that her snake, Rover, was in Allura's lap. The woman stood up, letting Rover curl around her hands.

"Now that you're _finally_ ready, let's get going. I don't think we'll be late, but it may be cutting it close." Pidge put on her purse and accepted Rover from Allura, letting him curl around her neck like a scarf. Rover had become sort of like a mascot for Allura's pet store. Pidge was allowed to take him to work, and the customers always took delight in seeing the black and green snake wrapped around the short woman's shoulders. It was also good publicity for the snakes that had yet to be adopted in the store.

The two women plus snake walked out of the apartment and into the summer morning sun. Rover leaned his head contently on Pidge's shoulder and soaked up at the sunbeams as the girls walked. Pidge had a car, but she didn't need to use it very often. The town she lived in pretty much had everything she needed in walking distance. It was also good exercise for someone who spent most of their free time on their computer.

Allura and Pidge chatted as they walked, occasionally waving at a passerby.

"I'll have you know that I can't wake you up e _very_ morning." Allura said, giving her friend a stern eye. Pidge would have been intimidated if it weren't for the smile on Allura's lips. "You have to stop staying up so late! What were you doing anyway?"

"Netflix and dank memes." Allura sighed and looked away.

"Of course you were."

"Hey! It's summer! Finals just killed me, resurrected me, and killed me again, so I deserve a little break!"

"It's just not healthy to have such little sleep."

"I'll make it up on the weekend." Allura sighed once again.

"It doesn't work like that, Katie." Pidge took a sip of her cold coffee and said nothing. A small, familiar building came into view. It was a quaint little bakery painted a cheery yellow with a small flower garden in front. The owner of the bakery claimed that the flowers provided a positive and calming atmosphere for those sitting at the outdoor tables, and Pidge didn't doubt him.

The owner was outside at that very moment, washing a smudge on a window. When he heard their footsteps, he looked up. Pidge could have sworn that his smile was the sun itself.

"Pidge, Allura! Good to see you guys!" Pidge grinned and gave a wave.

"Hey Hunk! Thanks for breakfast!" Allura nodded in agreement.

"Yes. The scones were delicious as always."

"As to be expected from the best baker in the world!" Pidge chimed in. The man, Hunk, smiled with a hint of bashfulness, and played with the hem of his orange headband.

"Aw, thanks guys. Oh, Lance is waiting for you, by the way. He's already at the shop unloading the truck." Pidge looked to sky dramatically.

"Why am I friends with a bunch of morning people?!" Hunk chuckled and put the rag he was using in a bucket.

"You could be one too, if you didn't stay up till four every night." Pidge threw her hands in the air.

"I will not have morning people destroy my way of life! Goodbye." With her head held high, she walked away from the two. But she still couldn't stop a small grin when she heard her friend's laughter behind her. Allura finally caught up to her when Altea's Pet Store came into sight. A small truck was parked in front and a boy was already in the middle of unloading boxes.

"Lance, you traitor! Why must you betray me and the night?" Pidge yelled. The boy glanced at her and smirked.

"Sorry, Pidgeotto. My beauty rest is more important." Pidge snorted and put a hand on the store's door.

"I guess that's true, you definitely need all the beauty rest you can get." Cackling, she ignored Lance's squawking and entered the building. The familiar chime rang as she opened the door. Rover picked up his head and flicked his tongue out at the familiar surroundings.

"Alright, buddy. Into your terrarium you go." Rover had his own comfy terrarium in the back of the store. Pidge unraveled him from her neck and opened the side door of the terrarium. Rover flicked his tongue onto his mistress's cheek and obediently slithered down into his second home. Once she was sure he was comfortable, Pidge shut the door and went to help unload.

The store was small, so it didn't take long to get everything unloaded from the truck and into the backroom. Once it was all over, Pidge wiped the sweat from her head and leaned against the counter in front of their large fan.

"I wonder if we can ask the sun to tone it down a bit." Lance got up from his spot on the ground and stuck his head out the door.

"Oi, Sun! Stop it with the heat or I'll fight you!" Seconds of silence, and then Lance shrugged.

"Welp, I tried. Have fun melting Pidge."

"If I go down, you're going down with me." Lance walked over to the fish tanks and grabbed a large can of fish food.

"I'd like to see you try. I'll snap your little gremlin arms in a second. I mean, c'mon," He held up his arm and flexed. "look at these guns! I'd like to see anyone get the best of me!" Pidge smirked.

"What about that time with Keith?" Lance's cheeks turned red and he began feeding the fish more aggressively than he should.

"That doesn't count! He caught me off-guard!" Pidge scooped up a bunch of crickets from their container and opened the lizard's terrarium.

"You literally challenged him to a fight, and then was the first to initiate it." She grinned mischievously as Lance blushed harder.

"It still wasn't fair. I didn't know that he's practically trained in combat!" Lance shook his head and closed the top of the fish tank. Pidge bestowed upon the lizards the gift of food and moved on to feed the other animals.

"Don't pretend that you don't think that's hot. I saw the look on your face when he pinned you to the ground." The fish food fell to the floor with a clang. Lance whirled around, face bright red.

"I-I didn't think that! God, that's- what the heck? He's my rival! Besides, he's totally not my type."

"Keep telling yourself that, McClain. You probably fantasize about his biker gloves and tight leather-clad ass every night."

Luckily Allura walked in and prevented Lance from strangling his one of his best friends.

"Lance. Pidge. I don't want to know, just _please_ act more professional. Pidge, can you help me in the back. Lance, can you do check-out?" Lance threw one more glare at Pidge and then beamed at Allura.

"Can do, boss!" He gave a snappy salute and vaulted over the counter to settle behind the cash register. Pidge followed Allura to the back to help with inventory.

"Really, Pidge. You have to stop teasing him like that. We all know he has a little crush." Pidge smirked and flipped a pen around her fingers.

"It's really more of an infatuation to the point of obsession really." Allura ignored the comment and began sorting through the boxes of pet bedding and food.

That's how a normal day went. Go to work, have some friendly banter with Lance, help Allura, and basically just go about the day. Their shop was fairly popular, so they had a good amount of customers every day. Sometimes Hunk would pop in during lunch and bring them something to eat like the wonderful teddy-bear he is.

Pidge and Lance would show their gratitude through giant group hug, which would normally end in Pidge getting squashed, but it was worth it. Overall, Pidge was pretty content with how her life was going. She had a good job, great friends, and was doing well in school. Hopefully, in a few years, she would have her degree in Computer Engineering, and finally be able to move out of her tiny apartment.

Everything went on as it was, and Pidge was fine with that. Things change, but for her, she was sure that it wouldn't until several years later. Besides, what could happen in a small town like this one anyway?

Change came crashing in with a bulldozer and horns blaring a few weeks later.

* * *

It was a very hot day, one of the hottest of the year. It was fortunate that the pet store had air conditioning, but that didn't stop the heat from wafting in every time the door opened. The fan on the counter was turned on full blast to ward off the heat, making a pleasant background noise in the quiet shop. Pidge stood behind the cash register, elbow propped up on the counter and chin resting on her hand. Allura was in the backroom, talking to her guardian and friend, Coran, on the phone, and Lance was currently outside in the back lot washing a few of the terrariums.

There was a lull in customers, so Pidge decided that there wouldn't be any problem with her reading a book while waiting for the door to chime. Rover was leisurely sleeping around her neck, and she absentmindedly reached up and stroked his scales from time to time. That morning, Lance had looked at her like she was crazy when she brought in a book that he claimed was bigger than her head. She merely smacked him with it and gave him some sunscreen to put on while he worked outside. His tanned Cuban skin could only protect him so much, and the sun would wreak havoc on him if he didn't use anything to ward it off.

The book was getting to an exciting part. A few members of the broken up band of heroes were going to fight a huge evil army while trapped in a city that was located on the base of a mountain. One of the untrained soldiers on the hero's side had just accidentally shot the first arrow of the battle, killing a member of the evil army and inciting them to finally attack. Pidge was so focused on the book that the chime of the door made her jump. Hiding her frustration at being interrupted at such an important part, Pidge closed the book and smiled.

"Welcome to Altea's Pet Shop. How can I-oh, hi Keith!" The young man who entered gave a small smile and wave. Keith was wearing all black despite the heat, making Pidge believe that he wasn't entirely human. They had met a few months ago, when he came in for the first time looking for cat food. Apparently his cat, Red, was a picky eater, and would only touch a certain brand.

The minute he stepped in and saw Lance, the two started to argue. They apparently had met the morning before, when Keith nearly ran over Lance with his motorcycle by accident. The two argued over whose fault it was, and they were 'Rivals' ever since. Pidge had to go over and practically break the two up with a broom. Lance finally and 'reluctantly' (Pidge saw that blush don't deny it) gave him the cat food he was looking for. Keith mumbled a thanks and left, looking slightly in a better mood than before.

Now he came in every so often for cat food or toys, arguing with Lance or chatting with Pidge while he's at it. The thing that really created the friendship between her and Keith were aliens. He noticed her alien-print bag and brought up the topic. They began to theorize the existence of aliens and then cryptids. The rest was history. Without anyone really knowing how, Keith joined their little group of friends. He more often than not joined Pidge and the others for lunch or when they hung out outside of work.

A sudden draft of heat made sweat run down Pidge's neck, and she noticed that Keith was still holding the door open. She opened to mouth to ask what he was doing when her words died in her throat.

Another person came into the store behind Keith. No… not a person. This man could only be described as a god. He was tall, taller than Lance, which was saying something. He was wearing jeans and a tank top that nicely showed off his muscular arms and chest.

Sweat glistened on his neck and arms, and he reached up with a prosthetic arm to wipe the sweaty bangs out of his face. A second of curiosity at the sight of the arm distracted Pidge from the gorgeous creature in front of her. He then turned, and looked directly at Pidge, successfully capturing her full attention again.

His eyes, oh god his eyes. Pidge could feel the heat gradually climbing to her face. They were the sweetest looking eyes, yet, with an intensity she couldn't place. They were…beautiful. With that face, he could rob the store right now and she would be ok with that.

She would like to believe that he was staring at her too, but before she could fantasize more about it, Keith's cough broke her out of her daze. Tearing her eyes away from the stranger, Pidge covered up her embarrassment with a smile at her friend.

"So, what brings you here today? Does Red need more food? You just got her some last week…" Keith shook his head and stood in front of the counter.

"Nah. She's a pig, but not that much. I actually need another toy for her. Her favorite one went missing, and I can't find it no matter where I look. She's been annoying me about it ever since." Pidge nodded and skirted around the cabinet toward the cat toys, trying to ignore how the stranger's eyes seem to follow her every move.

"What kinds does she like?" Keith looked at the cat toys with a thoughtful expression.

"Her previous favorite was a bell with ribbons trailing from it." Pidge hummed and looked for a second before reaching out and grabbing a toy.

"This one's a bell with feathers on it. It's a bit different though." Keith grinned and took it from her.

"It'll be fine. Thanks." Pidge smiled and walked around him, only to nearly run into the stranger. Forcing down the heat that threatened her face once again, Pidge gave a polite grin.

"Ah. Sorry." He smiled, successfully shoving an arrow through her heart. He waved his hand in a friendly gesture.

"It's fine. I'm in your way aren't I? Sorry." Pidge never thought she would ever meet someone whose voice was literally like honey, but here he was. The man scooted to the side, and Pidge awkwardly shuffled past him, giving him another friendly smile, and scurried towards the counter.

Keith looked back and forth between the two. His eyes widened a little bit.

"Oh, I didn't introduce you guys, did I? Pidge, this is Takashi Shirogane, he's my half-brother." Shiro gave her a bright grin.

"I go by Shiro. It's nice to meet you, Ms..?" He looked at her expectantly. Pidge was silent before stiffening.

"Huh? Uh, yeah! My name. It's Pidge, b-but that's just a nickname my real name's Katie Holt, but my friend Lance gave me a nickname while we were watching Pokémon as kids, and…yeah-" she tapped her name badge. "as you can see here, I go by Pidge. So…yeah."

If she could've died right then and there that would have been great. Shiro didn't seem to notice her blatant awkwardness and seemed to perk up.

"Oh, so you're Pidge! Keith has told me about you." He gave another radiant smile. "It's nice to finally meet you!" Pidge smiled and nodded, not trusting her own voice. The back door suddenly opened, making the three flinch and turn. Lance walked in, drenched and covered in soap. He was looking behind his shoulder. He turned and ran his hand through his hair.

"Hey, Pidge, do you know where we put the-" He froze when he caught sight of Keith. His mouth dropped open. Pidge sneaked a peak at Keith. His face expression was so priceless that she was tempted to take a picture. He closed his mouth and gulped, eyes never leaving Lance's.

Lance stood in awkward silence for a minute longer and then snapped his mouth shut. He cleared his throat a little before speaking.

"Huh, fancy seeing you here Mullet. You look like a drowned rat." He gestured to the sweat that cause Keith's hair to cling to his neck and forehead. Keith immediately regained his composure and scowled.

"I was going to say the same about you." Lance's shoulders seemed to lose their tension, but he put on an air of annoyance.

"At least I'm not covered in disgusting sweat. What kind of idiot are you to be wearing _that_ in this heat?" Keith bristled and Pidge sighed. Here we go again. The two infatuated idiots are arguing to hide their raging thirst for each other. Shiro watched the exchange with a surprised look on his face.

"Huh." He spoke to Pidge, still looking at the two boys arguing. "That must be Lance. Keith has talked about him occasionally too. And by occasionally I mean all the time." Pidge snorted with laughter.

"Yeah. Lance is just as bad…" She turned to head to look at Shiro. He was looking at her and gave a small smile. Her heart thumped loudly again. She suddenly felt very jittery. She jumped Keith stomped up to the cash register, face flushed.

"Hey, can you ring this up please? I don't want to talk to this moron any more than I have to." He glared at Lance and set Red's toy on the counter. Pidge thanked the gods for a something to do. She grinned and quickly scanned the cat toy. Keith paid for it and shoved it into his pocket. "Thanks Pidge, sorry, but I got to go. See you later?" Pidge nodded and leaned on the counter.

"Yeah. Take care!" She gulped and grinned at Shiro. "It was nice meeting you too! Try not to be too hot out there- _I mean_ get to hot!" Shiro grinned and waved.

"Haha. Yeah. You too. I hope we get to meet up again. Oh, it was nice meeting you too, Lance!" He gave the Cuban boy a polite grin. He turned and followed Keith. Pidge caught her self staring at his backside as he went. The minute the door shut, Pidge groaned and let her head fall onto the counter with a clunk.

"God, that was horrible." Lance looked at her and leaned on the counter.

"The Keith part was, but who was that sexy slab of man-meat next to him?" Pidge covered her burning face with her hands.

"Don't call him that. His name is Shiro. He's Keith's half-brother." Lance whistled and crossed his arms.

"Wow. He's the type of person I would pay to step on me." Pidge groaned and shook her head.

"That's disturbing, Lance. Besides," She lifted up her face and unraveled Rover from her neck, mostly to hide her burning cheeks. "you don't have to go that far. He wasn't _that_ attractive." Her friend raised his eyebrows and a small smirk appeared on his face.

"I would have taken you seriously if I didn't catch you ogling his ass." Pidge make a noise that sounded like a wounded animal and hit her head on the counter again.

"I'm so embarrassed! I should have been professional, but instead I was flustered mess!" She reached out an arm at Lance. "Comrade. Do me a favor. Take me to the nearest bridge and throw me off!" Lance patted her head.

"But then I would miss out on all the fun of watching you suffer."

"I'm gunna tell Keith that you're a masochist."

"I'll tell Shiro about your crush on the entire Yu-Gi-Oh cast."

"Touché bitch."

Pidge sighed and straightened up. Rover was getting antsy and wanted to go back into his terrarium. She walked over and put him inside his home. She looked over her shoulder at Lance.

"Are you still cleaning the tanks out there? Cause' if you're finished, you should go change your shirt. Keith might appreciate it being see-through, but I don't."

Lance was unfortunate enough that Allura walked in the minute he gave Pidge the middle finger. She gave him a look she usually reserved for misbehaving toddlers.

"You two better not be fighting again. I swear if I have to assign someone to cleaning duty for a month…" Pidge shook her head.

"He's just grumpy because Keith came in and left after only a minute of fighting." Understanding shone in Allura's eyes. A small smile appeared on her face.

"Ah. You know Lance, if you want to spend more time with him, all you have to do is ask him out." Lance scowled at the look on their faces. Throwing his hands into the air, he stormed off to finish cleaning.

"You two suck!" Pidge hid her snicker.

"We love you too!" Lance made a noise of frustration and shut the door. Allura shook her head in amusement and went over to inspect the birds.

"So, who else was out here? I thought I heard another voice." Pidge stiffened and turned away, pretending to be busy with the cash register.

"It turns out Keith has a half-brother. He came into the store with him." Allura smiled as she took out a bag of bird treats.

"Really? You met Shiro?" Pidge quickly turned to look at her.

"How do you know who he is?"

"We went to the same high school. We've been friends for a long time know. I'm surprised Keith hasn't told you about him yet. They're really close." Allura put one of the bird treats in the cockatoo's cage and moved on to the next bird. Her face was lit up in a fond smile. "Shiro's an amazing guy. I hope you, Lance, and Hunk can get to know him. I'm actually meeting him for dinner tonight, maybe I can convince him to meet up with you guys for lunch some time soon."

Pidge's face fell.

"Oh….so you are… his girlfriend?" Allura froze. For a second, Pidge thought she said something wrong. She jumped when Allura burst out into beautiful tinkling laughter. She shook her head and smiled at Pidge.

"Haha…ah sorry, Pidge. It's just, I wasn't expecting that. No, we're not dating. We actually tried once, in high school." Allura shrugged and put away the bird treat bag she was holding. "But it didn't work out. We just didn't have a romantic chemistry. We're still friends of course! Good friends. But I would never think about dating him again." Allura looked at Pidge. The shorter girl shuddered, not liking the sly gleam in her baby-blue eyes.

"Why are you asking? Is someone-" she teasingly poked Pidge's cheek, "interested in him?" Pidge swatted Allura's hand away.

"No! Well, maybe…I don't know. I barely know the guy, so it seems weird to like him."

"It's ok to be attracted to someone at first glance. Besides, it'll be easy to get to know him, I can help you with that." Allura waggled her eyebrows. She giggled when Pidge smacked her arm.

"Ok ok! Thanks for the advice, but you don't have too. I'd rather not try to get involved with anyone right now." Allura frowned.

"Is there any reason why?" Pidge shrugged.

"I dunno. I just- I like how everything in my life is stable right now. I'd rather not throw something in there and make is chaos like it was in high school." Pidge hoped Allura wouldn't push the issue, and she didn't. Allura nodded in understanding.

"Alright. If that's what you want. But if the opportunity is ever there, don't be afraid to take it. Maybe things will surprise you." Allura winked at her one last time and disappeared into the backroom.

The store was silent once again. Pidge sighed and opened her book. She tried to read, but her mind wasn't in it. Shaking her head, she tried to ignore any thoughts of Shiro. Was he gorgeous? Definitely. Did he seem like he had an awesome personality? Of course. Does she want to spent more time with him and become friends? Heck yes.

But, still. She felt a bit reluctant to try to get closer to him in the romantic sense. She didn't want things to turn out like her last relationship.

Frowning, Pidge rubbed her temples.

'Not now.' She told herself. 'Don't think of it now or you'll be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.' Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out. Everything would be ok, she told herself. Everything will remain perfectly normal, there's no need to worry.

She kept telling herself that in order to make herself believe it. And she did, at least until that night when she got a frantic phone call from Lance.

"Pidge! You gotta help me!" Pidge sat up from her spot laying down on her couch with Rover. She gently stiffened, worry filling her mind.

"What is it? Are you ok? Do I need to come get you?

"No! It's-Keith just talked to me!"

Oh. That's what this was all about. Deflating, Pidge sank back down onto her fluffy pillow and turned down the T.V.'s volume so she could listen to Lance and be a supportive friend. No matter how ridiculous the problem was.

"Alright. What's the issue this time?" Lance began stuttering, which was unusual, and made Pidge raise an eyebrow.

"W-Well, I ran into Keith again at the coffee shop. Y'know the coffee shop we normally go. The one where you accidentally got sick all over-"

"Yes Lance. I know which one you're talking about. Go on."

"Ok. So, it turns out we both like White Chocolate Mochas, which I wasn't expecting. I don't know. Somehow, our argument turned into a conversation over our likes and dislikes, and the next thing I know, I'm sitting at a table with him chatting for two hours, sharing a slice of cake!"

"Oh no. That's horrible." Pidge deadpanned.

"Shut up I'm really freaking out over here! So, we were about to leave, when suddenly he asks for my phone number!" Pidge's eyebrows shot up. She had a feeling where this was going.

"Really?"

"Yes really! And then, oh god, he asked me out!" Pidge sat up so suddenly that Rover almost fell off. Silently apologizing to her pet, she turned her attention back to her friend.

"Oh my god. Are you serious?"

"Y-Yes I'm serious! Why the heck would I lie about this! So, basically, we are meeting up at the Corner Café tomorrow night. What should I do?!"

"Well, first you put on a nice outfit, then you get him flowers, and then you fuck him right then and there!"

"PIDGE! I'm serious!"

"So am I."

"Katie…."

"Wow, breaking out the real name. I guess you are desperate here." Pidge sighs. "All right, I'll go over to your house tomorrow with Hunk and Allura as backup. Have you told them yet?"

"Not yet, but they were next on the list."

"Ok. We'll help you get ready and give you pointers tomorrow night." Pidge genuinely smiled. "Don't worry about it, we're all there for you. Everything will be alright."

"….Thanks Katie. I gotta go. I need to tell the others."

"Alright. Congrats man!"

"Hah. Thanks!"

Lance hung up, leaving Pidge in silence. Wow. This was… unexpected. She frowned, getting up to put Rover in his terrarium for the night. She wasn't upset about Lance dating Keith. No, she was hoping for this. She actually just won a bet with Allura, she would have to collect the money tomorrow.

But…she couldn't help feeling a little unease. This was a sudden change to their peaceful little life. While it wasn't unwelcome, it was still unexpected. But that doesn't mean anything will happen to her, right? Of course not… she'll be fine. Her life will be normal as always, and nothing will come along to change that.

….Right?

* * *

 **AF: Hey howdy hey. What'd yah think? Yay, nay, gay? Either way, I had a bunch of fun writing this! I idea came to me at 3 in the morning and I knew I had to write it! Actually, the whole issue of the story didn't come to me until after I started writing it, but that's life, eh? I really hope you guys had fun, and I hope I get to update soon! See y'all later, and remember, review, or not, it's your choice! Buh-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AF: Eeey! It's me again! Wow, I didn't think that so many wonderful people would like my story! Thank you all for your love and support! It makes me feel so happy to know that I was able to make something that other people can enjoy! Thank you all once again!**  
 **Well, here it is! The second chapter! I've always struggled on thinking of what to write next in my stories, but for some reason with this one a bunch of ideas just come to me! Whew! It's nice not to have writer's block all the time! Oh, before we start, the disclaimer! ArtistFox does not own anything! Please don't arrest me! Alright, now, lets begin!**

* * *

It was Saturday, and that meant that Pidge could ignore all adult responsibilities and sleep in until 2 in the afternoon. She would have lazed around longer if it were not for someone banging on the door as if their life depended on it. Pidge snorted awake. She looked around; her sleep addled brain trying to comprehend what was going on. She was sitting at her desk with her computer on in front of her. A small puddle of drool had accumulated next to the keyboard. Oh not again. This was the third time this week she fell asleep at her desk. Wiping the trail of drool from her chin, she tried to locate what had woken her up.

Did she just imagine it? Leaning over, she squinted at the computer screen and checked the time. It was too early to go over to Lance's place, so who would be at the door?

She froze when the door was banged on again, this time in a specific pattern. She recognized it as Lance's 'secret knock'. Groaning, she threw her arm over her eyes. What does he want at this time? She already agreed to go over and help him. Sighing, she pushed the chair out from the desk and stood up. She reached up to stretch out her sore muscles, and rubbed at the crick in her neck.

'Well, that's what I get for sleeping in a chair.' She thought grumpily. Her phone suddenly buzzed, and Lance's face showed on the screen. Pidge unplugged her phone and swiped to answer the call.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in joining the Idiot Club. Try someone else." It wasn't her best snipe, but she had just woken up so she wasn't the sharpest knife in the corpse's back at the moment.

"Pidge get your lazy ass up and answer the door."

"It's like the middle of the night, what are you doing here?"

"It's 2:15 in the afternoon!"

"A minor detail. But seriously, why are you here? Is something the matter?"

"Open the door and I'll tell you."

Sighing, Pidge ended the call and dragged herself down the hallway.

"I swear if this is something stupid, Rover is gunna get an early dinner." She unlocked the door and opened it, revealing Lance holding a bag of fast-food.

"Lunch." He announced, marching into the apartment.

"Well hello to you too." Pidge grumbled, feeling slightly better now that he brought a peace offering. Lance looked around at the apartment and shook his head.

"How you can live in this place is a mystery to me. Why is there so much clutter?" He shoved a stack of magazines off of the couch and sat down. Pidge threw herself next to him and reached into the paper bag to fish out a burger.

"I have a system. Everything has a place and I know where that place is." Lance shook his head and grabbed his own burger.

"What it is is a mess. At least clean up a bit sometime!" Pidge threw her feet onto the coffee table and took a large bite out of her burger.

"Not gunna happen. I'm too busy."

"With what? Video games and Netflix?"

"Don't forget those sweet, sweet memes." Lance sighed and shook his head.

"Anyway, your hazard-zone house aside, I need a favor!" Pidge paused mid-chew.

"You couldn't wait until tonight to ask me?"

"No, because it will require some preparation. And I don't want to just spring it at you with no warning. I need you to watch Blue tonight!" Pidge froze. She swallowed nervously, trying to appear calm.

"O-Oh come on. I'm sure she'll be fine for a couple of hours." Lance gasped and put a hand on his heart.

"I can't just abandon my child during our movie night! You have to support her, she'll be devastated to learn that I'm not going to be there with her!"

"Lance, she's a cat, she'll be fine!"

"Devastated!"

Pidge shook her head and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Can't you ask someone else? You know cats don't like me."

"Pidge. Are you high?"

"Lance what the heck?"

"If you weren't, then you would know that cats don't hate you, they're just being cats."

"Easy for you to say! You weren't scratched in the face when you were five by a demon puffball!" Lance gave her a look.

"We've had this talk before! That was a long time ago, and you were just unlucky to meet a nasty cat. Not all of them are like that. Besides, you've been near Blue and Melemele a bunch of times!"

"I've only gone near Blue because your house has a rad entertainment system. And Hunk pampers Melemele so much that she's too fat to attack me, so I know that I won't get my eyeballs clawed out if I go near her."

"You are the only individual I know who hates cats. You truly are a gremlin."

"And proud of it." Lance stuck out his bottom lip and batted his eyelashes.

"Puh-leeeeaaaseee Katie? I promise you'll be fine! If you do it, I'll be your best friend!"

"I already am, and I've been regretting it ever since."

"Katie..." He whined. Pidge crossed her arms and stuck up her nose.

"No."

"Please?!" Lance was giving her the dreaded puppy-dog eyes... Aw, he looked really sad, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she-NO! She's not going to fall for that again! She must be strong!

"Not gunna happen!"

"Pleeeaaassseeee!"

"Nuh-uh."

"I'll let you play Overwatch~"

Pidge's ears twitched. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him in the corner of her eye.

"….Really?" She asked suspiciously. Lance's grin widened.

"Yep. I'll also let you hook up my laptop to the T.V. so you can play it on the big screen." Pidge thought for a moment.

"Can I eat pizza on the couch?"

"Only if you don't make a mess, yeah." Pidge frowned and furrowed her eyebrows. She really didn't want to go near the cat again, but this deal was too big to pass up. She glared her friend; Lance had her hook, line, and sinker, and he knows it. He was smirking and leaning back on the couch, watching her debate with herself. After a minute of weighing pros and cons, Pidge sighed in defeat.

"Alright. I'll do it. But if Blue attacks me, I'm marching over to the cafe and setting you on fire with one of those candles they use to set the 'mood'." Lance grinned in triumph.

"Fair enough!" He cheerfully balled up his burger wrapper and threw it into the paper bag. "Good doing business with you, Ms. Holt!"

"Cram a sock in it." Pidge mumbled with no real venom. Lance stood up and walked over to the sink to wash his hands. Pidge put her own burger wrapper in the bag and walked over to put it in the trash. "So, since you're here, want to Netflix and Chill?" Lance smirked and leapt over the back of the couch and bounced on the cushions.

"If by chill you mean eat ice cream at 3 in the afternoon, then sure." Pidge grinned and grabbed two ice cream sandwiches from the freezer.

"Sounds good to me." She threw a sandwich onto Lance's lap and picked up the T.V. remote and the controller for her PS4.

"Futurama?"

"Futurama."

Pidge pointed the remote at the television and turned it on.

* * *

While binge watching T.V. was always fun, Pidge and Lance eventually had to stop in order to walk over to Lance's house to get him ready on time. Before leaving her apartment, Pidge patted Rover's terrarium.

"See you in a bit buddy." The snake didn't respond, he just stayed curled up under his rock. Pidge grabbed her purse and followed Lance out of the apartment. Lance lived in the apartment complex next-door, so it only took a few minutes before they got to his apartment. They would have gotten there sooner, if it weren't for the fact that they had to stop to pet some dogs on the way there.

Lanced opened the door and turned on the lights. Pidge walked in to the organized and nicely-decorated apartment. She was always a little jealous that Lance was so good at interior decorating. She would try in her own home, but was always too lazy to do anything more than put up a few posters.

A familiar jangle sounded from around a corner and a lithe Russian Blue cat appeared. Pidge froze in her spot, but Lance immediately ran toward her and scooped her up like a baby.

"How's my beautiful baby girl?" He cooed, giving her a smooch on the head. Blue meowed and nuzzled his chin. He turned to Pidge, who had yet to fully relax. "Say hi to Pidge!" He walked over to her and held out the cat. Pidge dropped her purse and waved her hands around, panicked.

"Ah! N-No no no no! I'm fine, you don't need to-" Blue was plopped into her hands, causing her to scream internally. The cat blinked up at her with round eyes and gave a meow of greeting. Pidge couldn't stop a shiver from going down her spine.

"Oh come on Pidge!" Lance snorted. "You work in a pet store! You handle tarantulas for Pete's sake! And yet you're scared of a little kitty cat that you've known for how many years?" Pidge gently knelt down and let Blue climb out of her hands.

"Three years." She mumbled. Lance bent down to run his hand along Blue's spine.

"Look. I know you don't like cats, but you really don't have to be scared of her every time you come over to my house." Pidge picked up her purse and set it on the counter.

"I told you, I'm not scared of them. I just...don't have a preference for them." Lance sighed and brushed the cat hair off his shirt. Their conversation was broken by the ring of the doorbell.

"See!" Pidge pointed to the door. "They know how to use a doorbell, Mr. Bang-On-The-Door-Until-Pidge-Gets-Up!" Lance rolled his eyes, smirking, and opened the door.

"Hey Hunk! Hi Allura! Wow, I haven't seen you guys in so long!" Allura snorted and followed Hunk in.

"It's been one day, Lance."

"One day of not seeing your gorgeous face! Oh, and yours too Allura." Hunk smiled and shook his head as Lance finger gunned at him.

"I don't think Keith would appreciate you flirting with another person." Hunk said, leaning down to pet Blue. Lance hid his blush behind a smirk.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Allura walked over and hugged Pidge.

"Hi Pidge! How're you doing?" Pidge eyed Blue, who was eagerly accepting scratches from Hunk.

"I'm doing…ok." Allura smiled, either oblivious of or ignoring Pidge's wariness of the cat.

"Great! So, are we ready to make Lance so gorgeous that Keith will either drop dead or take him home for the night?" Lance's face gained color, but he was smiling.

"I'm ready! But it won't take long, I'm already naturally drop-dead gorgeous!" Pidge snorted.

"We need to get started as soon as possible, it'll take a while to even make him presentable." She deadpanned. Allura and Hunk snorted as Lance put Pidge in a headlock and noogied her hair. Hunk sighed, making his way toward Lance's room.

"Let's hope they don't kill each other in the process."

Pidge squirmed like a madwoman in Lance's grip.

"Lance ge' off!" She finally decided to stoop to immature measures. Grabbing his arm, she licked it. Lance merely laughed.

"Did you forget how many younger nieces and nephews I have? That technique doesn't work on me! All your efforts are futile! I am invincible!"

Pidge decided to go with a different method. Biting him.

"Gah! Pidge what the hell?" The girl dropped to the ground and cackled.

"The invincible just became the vincible!"

"'Vincible' is not even a word!"

"Uh, yeah it is! You would know that if you ever picked up a dictionary." Pidge yelped as Lance began chasing her. They ran around the island in the kitchen, over the couch and into Lance's room, trying to avoid knocking anything over in the process. Allura chuckled at them when they collapsed onto Lance's neatly-made bed.

"If you two are done messing around, we should start looking for an outfit for Lance." Lance childishly stuck his tongue out at Pidge and stood up.

"Alright, so, I had a few outfits planned already, but I need you guys' opinion." Opening his closet, Lance unhooked three different outfits. Pidge eyed the numerous clothes that were still hanging up in the closet. Hunk noticed as well and whistled.

"How on earth did you decide on just three outfits?" Lance grinned.

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

"He probably spent five hours going through all his clothes, examining each and every one of them." Pidge commented. Lance glared at her.

"Way to give away my secrets, Pidgey. Besides, it wasn't five hours, it was four." He walked over to the bed and laid out the three outfits.

"So," he began, lifting up the first set, "let's get started."

With all four of them, it didn't take long to pick the outfit that Lance deemed worthy. He walked out of his bathroom, now dressed in a nice pair of jeans, a tight grey shirt and a unbuttoned, dark blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

Pidge rustled through drawers picked out a comb to use. She began styling Lance's bangs to the side as Allura and Hunk decided on what shoes he should to wear. Without them realizing it, two hours had flown by. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Lance jumped and frantically looked around.

"Fuck!" He cursed, scrambling up.

"Lance, language!" Allura chided, but he wasn't listening. Lance was looking for his wallet and keys, panicked.

"Fuck fuck fuck! That must be Keith! I-I'm not ready! I'm still a mess! I don't have everything ready! I'm not mentally prepared!" Hunk put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What's the matter? You've faced Keith a bunch of times?"

"Yeah, but not for a date. I've always talked to him as a rival, but not as a guy that I'm attracted to!" The doorbell rang again, causing Lance to flutter around like a startled bird. Allura looked at the others nervously and walked into the hallway.

"I'll go get the door. You guys…help him." Hunk and Pidge nodded, watching Lance scurry around. He froze when they heard Allura open the door and could hear Keith's familiar voice in the living room. Lance ran his hands through his hair.

"Shit! What do I do?"

"…Lance."

"I'm not ready! I don't think I can face him yet!"

"Lance."

"What if I mess this up?! What if I drop food onto him, or-or make a joke that he doesn't think is funny which results in us sitting in uncomfortable silence for two hours?"

"Lance!"

"Oh god what if he dumps me only after the first date? I don't think I can handle getting rejected again!"

"Lance!" Pidge hopped onto his bed and grabbed his face, squashing his cheeks in between her hands. "Lance." She repeated more calmly. "Relax. You like him, and I know for a fact that he likes you. He's not the type of guy who'll run away if one little thing goes wrong. This won't be like what happened with Nyma. She was just a bitch who didn't appreciate anyone but herself. You deserve better than her, and that person is sitting in the living room right now, waiting to get his socks knocked off by the most gorgeous man he has ever seen!"

Hunk walked over and captured his friend in a big hug.

"Pidge is right. You're an amazing dude who anyone would be lucky to go out with. Don't worry about pretending to be someone, and just be yourself. Don't worry about what might go wrong, dude. Things happen. And Keith understands that." Lance took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

"I just- I really like him, y'know. But… but what if he realizes that I'm not what he wants and leaves?" Hunk tightened his hug.

"Then you accept the fact that you're too good for him and move on! There are like, a bazillion people in the world! You'll find someone better! But," Hunk let go of his friend and went over to the night stand to grab Lance's wallet and keys, "I don't think Keith will ditch you. I have a pretty good feeling that you two will work out, and you know my Hunk-hunches are normally right." He handed his friend his wallet and winked.

Lance gave a small grin and wrapped his arms around his friends' shoulders.

"Heh. Thanks for the pep-talk guys. Uh, sorry for being a downer." Pidge reached up and ruffled his hair.

"Nah. It's chill man. We losers have to stick together." Lance laughed and straightened out his hair.

"We're not 'losers', we're just 'limited editions'." A small meow sounded underneath him, and he looked down to see Blue staring up at him with large eyes. He bent down a kissed her on the head.

"I would pick you up, girl, but I can't get cat-hair on my shirt at the moment, you little ball of shedding." Blue purred and hopped onto the bed, making Pidge stand up and scurry next to Hunk. Looking at the door, Lance took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, putting on a confident grin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go seduce myself a man."

He opened up the door and walked to the living room with an easy swagger in his step. Pidge and Hunk shared a look before walking after him. The minute Pidge entered the living room, she had to hold back a snort of laughter. Keith was beet-red, and was awkwardly holding a giant bouquet of flowers. He was obviously out of his element. Lance beamed and sauntered up to him.

"Hey gorgeous! Are you ready to go?" He stopped when Keith shoved the bouquet into his face. Surprise graced Lance's features. Keith pulled uncomfortably on the collar of his red shirt, and mumbled to the floor.

"Uh, Shiro said that I should bring flowers for the first date. But, I...didn't know what kind you liked, so, I kinda just got all of them." He looked at Lance with a small smile.

This time, Pidge really did snort with laughter. Lance looked like someone had just hit his head with a hammer. His mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to say. Keith looked away and scratched the back of his head. The two stood awkwardly, not speaking, until Allura finally intervened. She gently picked up the flowers and walked to the kitchen.

"I can find a vase for these! You two go have fun! And don't get into too much trouble!" Lance smiled, relieved for the break of tension.

"Yes mom." He groaned playfully, walking over and opening the door. He paused, and then held out his hand for Keith.

"C'mon, Mullet. I'm starving, let's get something to eat. Don't worry, I'll pay!"

"What a gentleman." Keith deadpanned. He then smiled and grabbed Lance's hand.

"If you're paying, then let's go to a five-star restaurant instead. I'll make sure the bill is four figures for you." Lance rolled his eyes.

"I changed my mind, you can go eat without me!" But Lance tightened his grip on Keith's hand, smiling. He looked back to the others and waved.

"Later guys! Thanks again for coming over!" Allura smiled from her spot near the table, where she was putting down the vase full of flowers.

"It wasn't a problem! Have fun!" Hunk grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, thanks for letting us help! See you later!"

"Try not to get too nasty in front of children!" Pidge chimed in, successfully causing the two boys to blush and quickly shut the door. Sighing, Pidge kicked off her shoes and sat down on the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"Well, what are you guys going to do?" She asked, turning to Allura and Hunk. Hunk grinned.

"I'm meeting up with Shay. We're going to see a movie."

"A scary one I assume?" Hunk nodded. Despite what others may think, Hunk and his girlfriend Shay were big fans of the horror genre. Pidge hummed and looked at Allura. The woman shrugged and put on her purse.

"I'm going home to feed my mice and clean up a bit. Coran is coming over for dinner." Pidge waved as her friends exited the apartment.

"Alright. See you guys later!" After a chorus of goodbyes, the door shut, and Pidge was all alone. The apartment was now strangely silent, making her feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, might as well order that pizza." She mumbled to herself. About thirty minutes later she was sitting on the couch, munching on a slice of meat lovers pizza and scrolling through Netflix. It was basically another typical evening for her, so...why did she feel a bit lonely?

She was mid-bite when something leapt onto the couch next to her. Pidge gulped nervously and slowly looked over. Blue was right next to her, staring expectantly into her eyes. With a shaking hand, Pidge put down her slice of pizza.

"Um. W-What do you want? Lance already fed you…" Being careful to make no sudden movements, she scooted farther down the couch. Blue merely twitched her ear, still staring. She then yawned and stretched down. Pidge couldn't help but stare at the little white claws that poked out of the cat's paws. Blue straightened and stared right into the girl's eyes again.

Is this how Katie Holt dies? Being mauled to death by one of her best friend's cat? An old memory appeared in her brain. It was of a tiny Katie Holt, playing with a family friend's cat. Katie pet its back, and it suddenly hissed and swiped up with its paw, leaving a long shallow mark on Katie's face.

Katie tried to scramble back, but the cat pounced on her and began swatting with its paws. She didn't know why the cat was so angry, at the time she thought the cat simply wanted to hurt her. Her parents had finally come to save her and picked her up, trying to comfort her as the cat stalked off.

Pidge blinked and shuddered. Now, she knew that most cats were friendly, and it wasn't always the cat's fault they attacked but…she still didn't like them. A small noise recaptured her attention back to Lance's cat. Blue had got up, and was now slowly walking toward her. Pidge squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered a prayer. Goodbye world. Goodbye Mom, Dad, and Matt. It was nice being able to live nineteen years.

Instead of the expected searing pain of claws ripping out her eyes, Pidge felt a small weight on her legs. She cautiously opened on eye and looked down. Blue had laid down and curled up on her lap. Pidge's eyes widened. Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god oh god- what should she do? She couldn't move now, she was too scared to. Is…is she supposed to pet it? That's what people do, right? Pet cats who sit on them.

She held her breath, and slowly ran a shaking hand down the cat's back. Blue nestled further into her legs and purred.

'Huh'. Pidge thought to herself. 'It's…not that bad…' Then Blue reached out her paws and gently started to knead Pidge's thighs with her claws.

Pidge gave a short scream and scrambled over the back of the couch. Blue leapt to the ground with a startled hiss and hid underneath the coffee table. Pidge hurried to her feet and jumped onto the kitchen counter where she would be safe.

After a minute, Blue's fur relaxed its fluff, and the cat padded over to the counter. She sat down and looked up at Pidge, curious of what the human was doing. Pidge shivered uncontrollably and gripped her phone. What should she do? Should she call 911? Blue meowed and Pidge squeaked and scooted away from the edge of the counter. Maybe she could call Hunk! No…he probably silenced his phone for the movie. Allura then!

While keeping an eye on Blue the entire time, Pidge pressed the call button on Allura's contact. The phone rang, and rang, but no one answered. Looking up, Pidge realized that Blue was gone from her spot. Her head shot up to look for her, and she saw that had Blue merely moved to the top of the couch. She was laying down, looking at Pidge with glowing eyes.

"Demon cat." Pidge murmured. Blue purred in response. Pidge shuddered again, thanking her lucky stars that Allura's pet store didn't sell cats. Unfortunately, it didn't sell dogs either. Pidge really wished she was dog-sitting instead of cat-sitting right now.

She tried to call Allura two more times, but with no success. She only had two choices now: the police, or Lance. Her finger hovered over the 911 buttons, but then switched to Lance's contact number. Giving a silent apology for ruining his date, she waited as the phone rang.

"Hello? Pidge is something the matter?" Lance's concerned voice was heaven to her ears.

"Oh thank cheez-its, Lance! You have to help me! Your cat is going to kill me!" Pidge could hear Lance's muffled apology to Keith and he turned back to her.

"What do you mean? Is something up with Blue?"

"I was on the couch, when she jumped onto my lap! At first I thought it was nothing, but then she started poking her claws into my thighs! Is she trying to see how thick my skin is so she knows how to slice into it or something?!"

Lance was silent, and Pidge could hear the background noises of clanking plates and chatter. Lance then burst out laughing, making her wince and pull the phone away from her ear.

"Oh my god! Is that what you called me for? Blue just flexing her claws? Oh my god." There was a clunk that could only be described as Lance setting his head on the table, and he continued laughing. Pidge felt a prickle of irritation.

"Stop it! This is serious! I'm really scared here; she won't stop staring at me!" Finally, Lance's laughter died off, leaving weak chuckles.

"P-Pidge," he giggled, "Blue isn't going to attack you. She just found you comfortable to sit on. And as for her staring at you, wouldn't you be curious if the person taking care of you all the sudden flipped out over nothing?"

Pidge…felt kind of stupid now. She blushed furiously as a new wave of giggles overcame her friend.

"I was really scared Lance!" He sniffed and let out a chuckle.

"Alright, alright. If you really don't want Blue to bother you, just give her a toy and put on a movie. She probably is clinging to you because it's movie night. She likes The Aristocats. Play that on the T.V. in the guest bedroom, and she should leave you alone."

"…You're telling me to play a movie for a cat?"

"Yes? What's wrong with that?"

"…If I die tonight, it's your fault."

"I'll try not to let your death bother me too much. And really, don't worry about Blue. She wouldn't hurt a fly."

Pidge looked over at the cat, who pounced and crushed a buzzing fly in her paws.

"S-Sure."

"Good. Now, may I please return to my date?"

"Yeah! Sorry, man. Have a good time, ok? I won't bother you again!"

"It's fine my dude. Later!"

He hung up, and Pidge was once again at the mercy of the house-cat. Steeling herself, Pidge slowly crept down from the counter. Blue was busy grooming her paws and wasn't looking at her. The girl quietly tip-toed around the couch. Her foot then accidentally hit a cat toy, making the bell clank. Blue's head shot up, and she stared at her.

Pidge silently cursed, and slowly reached down to grab the toy, picking it up with her pointer finger and thumb. Blue's eyes followed her every movement. Pidge slowly shuffled towards the guest room, trying not to panic when Blue leapt from the couch and trotted after her. Pidge finally got to the guest room and threw the toy onto the bed. Blue jumped onto the mattress and began pawing at the bell.

Narrowing her eyes at the cat, Pidge slipped out of the room to rummage through Lance's movie cabinet. She flipped through her friend's extensive Disney collection until she finally found the one Lance recommended. Blue was in the same spot when Pidge returned. The girl slipped the movie into the disk player and turned on the television. Soon, the cheerful opening screen of the Aristocats was playing. Blue immediately put down her toy and looked at the T.V.. Slightly creeped out, Pidge pressed play. The movie stared, and Blue began gnawing on her toy while keeping an eye on the screen.

Pidge wondered if this was normal cat behavior. She went back into the living room, relieved to see that Blue wasn't following her. Now, she could finally relax. Grinning, Pidge ran over and hooked Lance's laptop onto the living room's T.V.. She was going to take advantage of Lance's game collection until he got back, starting with Overwatch. Maybe this night won't be a complete disaster, if Blue just stays in her room.

Pidge was in the middle of the game when she saw something in the corner of her eye. She looked over, and saw that Blue was now sitting next to her, watching the human play.

The next-door neighbor woke up with a start, wondering if he really heard a scream from the apartment next to him or not. When it didn't happen again, he shrugged, and went back to sleep.

* * *

 **AF: Hey y'all! The second chapter is done! I suppose I don't have to warn you, but just in case, the characters will not be completely like how they are in the show. But writing this chapter was fun! I can't wait to see what happens next (even though I'm the one writing it). Alright, I got to go, but I'll see y'all later. Season three is almost here! Woohoo! I have to mentally prepare myself! See y'all later! Buh-bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AF: Hello all you beautiful people! Wow, that was some season three wasn't it? And I'm so excited for all the new information over the paladins that has come out! But then I realized that I should probably explain the ages in this story. So, you may have noticed that Pidge is 19 in the fic. I'm not going to give specific ages to the other characters, but you can probably just make a guess. I also don't know how to make Pidge Italian in this one, and I don't want to accidentally butcher someone's language or get cultural facts wrong and offend somebody, so I'm not going to say anything about that specific fact.**

 **One more thing, whew this is getting long, I'm basing Shiro's look on seasons 1-2 Shiro. No offense to the season 3 Shiro look, but I just don't like it as much.**

 **Alright, that's enough of that. Here's the disclaimer: ArtistFox does not own anything; please don't get me arrested. Cool, now, on with the story!**

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The small café was busy, but Lance barely noticed. All he could focus on was Keith. His stupid hair that looked incredibly soft and reflected the lights, his stupid shirt that fit him perfectly and showed off his handsome arms, his stupid eyes that glittered when he smiled, and his stupid _stupid_ laugh that was literally the best sound Lance has ever heard. It was like they were in their own little world. Just Keith and Lance, sitting at the small table in the corner, next to the window that overlooked the moonlit street.

When Lance had first met Keith, he didn't know what to think of him. It had started out just an ordinary day, giving no warning that someone new was going to come crashing into his life. He was walking on the road along the sidewalk, watching the sun disappear beyond the horizon. The roads were normally empty at this time, so he wasn't worried about cars. That least until a sudden screech of tires made him whirl around. A person on a motorcycle was coming right at him! With a yell, Lance leapt out of the way to avoid getting run over. He tripped and fell heavily on the sidewalk, scraping his knees.

The motorcycle swerved to avoid him, and the driver lost control. The tires caught on the edge of the sidewalk and it caused the bike to fly into the air. Luckily, the driver wasn't going very fast, and he managed to land safely in a couple of bushes.

Once Lance got over his concern for his own life, and the relief that the driver seemed to be unharmed, he got up with an annoyed scowl. Brushing the dirt off his pants, he stomped over to the figure struggling in the bushes.

"Hey! What the hell were you doing, dude? You almost killed me!" The figure scrambled up and turned toward Lance. He angrily pointed at the taller man, his helmet muffling his voice a little.

"If you weren't walking in the middle of the road like a lunatic I wouldn't have nearly ran into you!" Lance bristled with irritation.

"I wasn't in the middle of the road! I was on the side! You should've paid more attention!"

"You should've been walking on the sidewalk like you're supposed to do!"

Lance angrily opened his mouth to retort back when the other man took off his helmet. Immediately, Lance felt his words freeze in his throat. The other man looked up and ran a hand through his sweaty black hair. His grey eyes pierced Lance's blue ones with such intensity that Lance nearly had to look away. He adjusted his weight onto one leg, causing a small strain to his tight leather biker pants and jacket.

Lance had never felt so angry yet so attracted to someone. When the biker raised an eyebrow, Lance realized that he was staring. Shaking his head, Lance dove back into the argument.

"I can walk wherever I want to! It's a free country, Mullet!" The biker seemed taken back by the name.

"Wha- Mullet?" He reached back and felt his hair before yelling back. "It's not a mullet!" Lance snorted.

"Huh, yeah, and I'm Princess Peach."

"You're about as smart as her too."

"H- How dare you! Princess Peach is a brave, intelligent woman who has to run an entire kingdom by herself!"

"Oh yeah, if she's so smart then why does she get kidnapped all the time?"

"She can't help it! It's not like she has the physical strength to judo flip a giant dinosaur monster! Besides, she has other things to worry about than herself, like the well-being of her people!" The biker snorted.

"Peach literally does nothing! She just sits on the throne and lets Mario or some other poor sucker do all the work for her!"

"How do you know she does nothing? Maybe she does things off screen that helps Mario! Maybe she helps sabotage Bowser's forces or something!"

The biker glowered and opened his mouth to argue when they were interrupted. Bright car lights shone into their eyes, making them squint and turn around.

"Oi! Get off the road you loons!" A man bellowed at them from his truck as he zoomed by. The biker scowled and yelled after him, shaking his helmet.

"We're on the _side_ of the road, bastard!" Lance smirked.

"Oh, so _now_ it's the side of the road, huh?"

"Oh shut up _Princess_. You still made me crash my bike! Look at it!" He hauled his red motorcycle out of the bushes. "It's all scratched up, and I'm pretty sure there's a dent in it somewhere! I'm already strapped for cash and _now_ I have to pay for it to get repaired! Just great!" He angrily threw his helmet down. Putting his hands on the hips, and shook his head. Sighing, he gripped his hair.

"What am I going to tell Shiro?" He murmured. Before he turned around, Lance caught a conflicted look on the biker's face.

Lance's scowl melted off and formed into a small frown. He anger dwindled, and the furious clouds blocking his judgement evaporated. He… felt guilty. It probably was his fault, or at least had part of the blame. And while he felt bitter to have to admit his mistakes, especially to a person as unfriendly as Mullet, his guilt seemed to be stronger than his own vanity. He didn't want another person to suffer because of something he did.

Lance and the biker stood in a tense silence. Lance looked down at the motorcycle, which indeed had numerous scratches and a few dents in the side. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair.

"Hey," The biker glanced up, startled. Lance grimaced and continued, "um, sorry bout' the bike. I- I'll pay for the damages." The biker narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"…Are you being serious?" His eyes glowed in the light of the street lamps, sending a shudder down Lance's spine. He swallowed thickly and nodded.

"Uh, yeah? Why would I lie about that? Here," he reached into his pocket and brought out an old receipt. He patted his other pockets before turning to the biker. "…Do you have a pen?" The biker hesitantly reached into his pocket and slowly gave Lance the pen, as if expected Lance to take it and stab him in the eye with it. Lance grabbed it with a small nod of thanks and began writing on the back of the receipt.

"This…is… my billing information." Lance explained as he wrote. "You can bill me for the bike. And," he handed the biker the receipt with a small smirk, "I could give you my phone number if you'd like to stay connected." He gave a flirtatious wink. The biker flushed bright red and scowled grumpily, snatching the receipt out of Lance's hands.

"Whatever. I don't need your stupid number." He grumbled. "I'll bill you for the bike though." The man turned, swinging his legs over his motorcycle and turning on the engine. Thankfully, it still ran just fine. He put on his helmet, but kept the visor up. The biker looked over to Lance, almost embarrassed, and cleared his throat.

"Uh, thanks, _Princess_." Lance rolled his eyes at the name.

"Don't call me that! My name is Lance, Mullet!" The biker smirked and revved the engines.

"Mine's Keith." He replied. Then, he flicked down the helmet's visor and sped off into the night. Lance stared at his retreating figure for a minute, even after he couldn't see him anymore. A slow smile grew on Lance's face. He hopped onto the sidewalk and continued home, whistling as he strut down the pavement.

True to his word, Keith had billed Lance for the bike. Lance's eye twitched as he glared at the paper. Mullet didn't just get the scratches and dents repaired, he also got new tires and the oil changed. All of it having to be paid for by Lance.

Lance angrily paid the bill and swore to kill Keith the next time he saw him. Which was only a few days later, when Keith first visited Altea's Pet Store, looking for cat food. Even though they argued, and Lance was still angry at him for the bill, he was happy to see Keith again. But that didn't change the fact that the biker still drove him crazy. After a particularly humiliating interaction with the man the next day, Lance declared Keith as his official 'rival'.

Despite their apparent hatred of each other, the two somehow ended up spending a lot of time together. Either by some weird coincidence, or a god just messing with their lives, Keith and Lance ran into each other everywhere. And that gave Lance a lot of time to understand who Keith really was. Keith was annoyingly perfect, he was arrogant but kind, he was hot-headed but determined to pursue what he enjoyed, and Lance has never been more in love.

Lance knew he couldn't keep his hopes up though, not after what happened with Nyma. Besides, he was pretty sure that Keith wasn't gay, or even bi. He didn't show any interest in guys, and certainly wouldn't fall in love with a guy like Lance. No, it's better off for Lance to continue to pretend that he hated Keith, no matter how much he admired him.

Imagine Lance's surprise when Keith asked him out after he ran into him at the Corner Coffee Shop. At first, Lance had thought it was a prank, but Keith's nervous stuttering and genuine expression and tone told him otherwise. Without really thinking, Lance accepted, and now here they were, in a cute little café sharing a large sandwich and a slice of cake.

Lance didn't know what to talk about in the beginning. How was he supposed to speak to Keith without resorting to his defense mechanism, arguing with him? But Keith had made it…surprisingly easy. Sure, they got into a few arguments, but it was more of just friendly banter than a real heated debate.

Much to their surprise, they had a lot of similar interests, just different reasons why they liked said interests. They discussed movies, books, and even touched on the subjects of cryptids, which Lance wasn't too familiar with but eager to watch Keith's eyes light up when he talked about it.

Things were going amazingly well when Lance's phone suddenly rang. Keith paused mid-sentence about something called 'Mothman' and stared at Lance with curiosity. Blushing slightly, Lance plucked his phone out of his pocket. He frowned when Pidge's name showed up on the screen. Shooting an apologetic look at Keith, he answered the phone.

"Hello? Pidge is something the matter?" His concerned tone made Keith stiffen with alarm. Lance gave him a comforting smile and listened to Pidge's strained voice over the phone.

"Oh thank cheez-its, Lance! You have to help me! Your cat is going to kill me!" Pidge was obviously panicking, but why on earth would Blue behave like that? Worried that the conversation would be serious, the pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at Keith.

"Sorry about this, but it seems that I can't brush this off. I need to talk to my friend, something came up." Keith nodded and leaned back.

"Yeah, no worries. Take your time." Lance hoped his smile expressed his gratitude, and he set his phone back on his ear. He twisted in his seat and rested his elbow on the back of the chair.

"What do you mean? Is something up with Blue?" He listened to Pidge explain, and his concern ebbed away to amusement. He tried not to laugh, he really did, but Pidge did not make it easy. Laughter burst from his lips. The idea that Blue, his sweet little baby Blue, was seen as something dangerous and bloodthirsty made him laugh harder.

"Oh my god! Is that what you called me for? Blue just flexing her claws? Oh my god." He couldn't handle it. He let his head hit the table with a thunk and continued laughing. Keith stared at him with concern, not knowing how to handle the situation. Lance could hear Pidge yelling at him, but he couldn't answer. The other customers in the café were now looking in their direction with mild irritation. Lance took a deep breath and exhaled, toning down the laughter to light giggles.

He finally managed to tell Pidge that there wasn't anything to worry about, and that Blue wasn't going to hurt her. Pidge didn't sound convinced, so he suggested for her to play a movie. Saturday nights were normally his and Blue's movie night, so Blue must have been a bit lonely without him. At least she had Pidge, even though his friend probably won't pet or snuggle with her. Lance made a mental note to give Blue an extra dose of cuddles when he got home.

When he finally hung up and put his phone away, he noticed that Keith was staring at him. Lance readjusted himself on his seat and leaned over to spear his fork into their slice of cake.

"What is it, Mullet? Everything's fine." Lance said, chomping down on a bite of chocolatey goodness. Keith let out a short laugh and crossed his arms.

"I didn't know you had a cat." Lance grinned through a mouthful of cake. Swallowing, he took out his phone again.

"Yeah! She's a Russian Blue, named, well, Blue." Keith snorted.

"Very original."

"Says the guy who named his cat _Red_." Keith grinned.

"I actually have a very good reason to name her that. When she was a kitten, she got into a bowl of strawberries that I was washing. Her paws got dyed with the juice, and I couldn't wash her until three days later. She always ran from me if I tried to get her in the tub." Lance hummed and swiped through his phone, looking for something. His eyes lit up and he excitedly showed his phone to Keith.

"This is Blue! Isn't she the prettiest baby you've ever seen?" Keith took the phone from him and looked at the picture. It was of a bluish-grey cat laying elegantly on a fluffy pillow. Her eyes were open and she was staring above the camera. The lights were reflecting off the glittery bow that she wore around her neck.

Keith held back a snort. Oh yeah, that was Lance's cat alright. She was obviously pampered, if the expensive kitty tower and toys in the background were any indicator. Keith began swiping through the pictures. Some of them were of Lance's friends, family, or selfies, but the majority of them were of Blue. In each photo, the cat was either posing in an elegant way with cute little outfits on, or was playing or cuddling with Lance.

Keith found it absolutely adorable. He paused and grinned at a picture. It was a selfie of Lance laying on his bed, shirtless and in pajama pants, cuddling with Blue with one arm and the other holding the phone. He was laughing up at the camera as Blue licked his cheek.

"…Can I send some of these to my phone?" He asked Lance, already in the process of the texting the picture to his own number; he had plans of making it his screensaver. Lance laughed and leaned back.

"Sure, I'm sure Blue would love to have one more person gushing over her adorableness."

"Yeah…" Keith said, not looking away from picture Lance, "Blue's adorableness." Lance face suddenly lit up, like he was struck with an idea.

"I know!" He exclaimed, startling Keith from his staring. "We should set up a kitty playdate for Red and Blue! It would be so adorable! We could put them in some of Blue's outfits and take pictures!" Keith blinked, and then laughed, handing Lance his phone.

"I'm fine with a playdate, but I don't think Red would appreciate the outfits. She doesn't like being put in little dresses or suits. Besides, it looks like Blue is a little bit bigger than Red, so I don't think the outfits would fit her."

Lance shrugged and signaled the waiter for the check.

"Well, we can at least have them meet each other. I'm sure Blue would love to have a friend." Lance brightened again. "Dude, we have to make this happen! I really want to see little cats playing with each other! I need the cuteness!" Keith smirked, and swished the water in his glass around.

"If you wanted to see cuteness, look in the mirror." He looked up, smirk widening as Lance turned the color of a ripe tomato. He stared at Keith, slack jawed.

"…Dude, did you just flirt?" Lance stared with amazement as Keith awkwardly set his glance down, smiling and looking slightly embarrassed.

"So? Is it wrong to compliment my date?" The shock on Lance face and his burning cheeks emboldened Keith. He leaned over and poked Lance's cheek "Besides, it's fun seeing you blush." Lance stared at him, not knowing how to react. Then, a tiny laugh escaped Lance's lips. He nervously swiped his hands over his mouth. He didn't meet Keith's eye and looked around the café.

Keith was suddenly concerned that he made Lance very uncomfortable.

"L- Look, I'm sorry if I-" Lance suddenly burst out into uncontrollable giggles.

Oh god, thought Keith, has he become a giant creep towards his date? Did he just frighten Lance off? Lance suddenly looked up, with an adoring grin that made Keith's heart stutter nervously. Lance rested his hand on his cheek and laughed heartily.

"It's completely fine. I just wasn't expecting it. I'm just happy to be the one who gets flirted with for a change….It's really cute." Keith tried to speak, but his mouth suddenly went dry. He grabbed his cup and gulped down water, hopefully stalling long enough to be able to think of a response.

Luckily, the waiter came over to give Lance his credit card back, successfully distracting him from Keith's sudden thirst. Lance thanked the waiter and stood up, leaning on his chair.

"What do ya say we get out of here and find something to do?" Keith nodded his head, quickly setting down his cup. He stood up and shrugged on his jacket. The bell on the café door jangled as the two walked out. The café wasn't too far from Lance's apartment, so the they could easily walk back. They quickly fell into easy conversation.

They were currently the only ones walking on the sidewalk. All the shops along the road were closed for the night; the streetlamps reflected off their dark windows. Distant music could be heard from a nearby bar, and the occasional car zoomed past, with headlights brightening up the area for a second before disappearing into the night.

They got to Lance's apartment complex, where a shiny red motorcycle was parked in front. There were two helmets, a blue and a red, hanging off its seat. Keith walked up and grabbed the blue one, which he held out to Lance.

"You wanna go for a ride?" Smiling, Lance grabbed the helmet and inspected it.

"Sure. I've never been on a motorcycle before, but I probably won't fall off." He put the helmet on his head and tried to buckle it. Key word: tried. Lance frowned as he awkwardly struggled with the clip for a minute. Keith turned around, helmet already on, and laughed.

"Need some help?" Lance shook his head.

"No, I…got it" He yelped with the clip pinched his fingers. Red with embarrassment, he sighed and let his hands fall to his side. "On second thought, yeah." Keith reached over and gently tilted Lance's chin up, hands grazing over his neck as he grabbed the buckle. Lance swallowed nervously. He could feel Keith's breath on his face. He was so close...Lance couldn't help but stare. He could easily see the long eyelashes that framed Keith's stunning eyes. Lance's eyes moved down and connected on Keith's lips. The chapstick he wore made them look glossy underneath the streetlamps. Lance's fingers twitched with a sudden urge to run his thumb over them.

The buckle of the helmet clicked and Keith looked up and met his eye. Another small breeze blew a tiny strand of ebony hair across Keith's face. It stuck to his eyelashes, but before he could move it away, Lance reached up and gently brushed it aside.

Keith emitted something that sounded like a small gasp. The tips of his ears were now burning a bright red. Lance's hand lingered on the side of Keith's face, which seemed to get closer. Lance's breath hitched, and Keith's lips were a centimeter from his.

A sudden car zoomed by, music blasting out of its windows and engine roaring. Lance broke out of his reverie. He blinked, and stepped back. He didn't notice that Keith had stepped closer, his chest nearly touching his own. Lance coughed into his hand awkwardly and looked to the side.

"T-Thanks. Are we ready to go?" Disappointment flashed on Keith's face for a second, but was replaced by a neutral expression. Keith nodded and walked over to his motorcycle.

"Yeah…let's go. We probably shouldn't go too far tonight, but I can take you around town." Lance nodded, and then eyed as the motorcycle as Keith swung his leg over the seat.

"Uh, one question. How the heck to I sit on this thing?" Keith put his hands on the handlebars, and glanced over to Lance with a smirk.

"You sit behind me and put your hands around my waist to hang on." Lance suddenly felt like he would be enjoying the ride very much. Walking over to the bike, Lance put his hands on Keith's shoulder for balance and swung his leg over. After he adjusted himself on the seat, he happily wrapped his arms around Keith's waist. He liked the feel of Keith's leather jacket under his fingers.

Keith's body stiffened, but then relaxed. He turned on the bike and revved the engines. Lance let out a bark of laughter.

"I feel like we're in a fairy tale, and we're riding a horse. Only the horse is metal, and we're in an urban town instead of a magical forest." Lance felt Keith shake with laughter. He looked over his shoulder and met Lance's eye.

"Hang on tight, Princess." Before Lance could register the wink Keith gave him, the bike shot into the street. Lance yelped and clung tighter, nervously pressing his chest against Keith's back. He nearly screamed when they turned a corner.

"I take it all back!" Lance yelled into the wind. "This is a nightmare!" But he didn't ask Keith to stop. Keith adjusted his grip on the handlebars. He wasn't going as fast as he normally did, but he didn't want to scare Lance. He turned down a road that ran alongside a lake. He heard Lance gasp in awe. There were no clouds, so the moonlight could reflect off the water perfectly. The trees were gently swaying in the breeze, and fireflies were twinkling next to the flower beds and above the water.

Lance shifted closer to Keith and rested his head on his back near his shoulder, watching as the quiet beauty of the world go by. Soon the road turned again, leading them back into town. The motorcycle began to speed up.

Once Lance got over his initial nervousness, he found himself having fun. He enjoyed the adrenaline from speeding down the road with the wind whistling around them. He also liked how riding the motorcycle meant trusting Keith one hundred percent. It made him feel like there was a new bond of trust between them.

As Keith turned another corner and sped up again, Lance found himself whooping with glee.

* * *

The moon was past the middle of the sky as Keith's motorcycle rolled to a stop in front of Lance's apartment complex. Lance swung his legs off the bike and stretched. He was a bit sore from sitting in one position for so long, but he didn't really care. He would do it a hundred times more if he could, and hopefully, he'll that that many opportunities to do so in the future. Keith took off his helmet and Lance followed in suit.

Keith shook his head when Lance tried to hand the helmet back.

"I'm letting you keep it. I'm pretty sure we'll be riding again on other dates." Keith's eyes widened. "That is, if you want to continue-" Lance rolled his eyes and gently punched Keith's shoulder.

"Yes you idiot, I think it's pretty obvious that I want to continue dating." Then, Keith smiled, and Lance knew that he was going to continue loving this idiot forever. They turned and began walking towards the building. Checking his watch, Lance's eyes widened when he realized it was already one in the morning.

"Aw man, Pidge is gunna kill me!" Keith had to speed walk behind Lance as he quickly strode to his apartment door.

"What's the matter?" Keith asked, panting as he tried to keep up with Lance's long strides. "I think she'll be ok with us simply being a little late." Lance searched his pockets for his eyes and opened the door's lock.

"You don't understand, Pidge doesn't like cats, and for her to be alone with one for so long…" He opened the door and walked in. "Pidge, I'm home! Sorry, we kind of lost track of ti- What the _hell_ are you doing?"

Pidge was kneeling on the kitchen counter with a pot on her head and wielding a spatula over her shoulder. She looked up with a slightly crazed look on her face.

"Lance! Oh, thank the lord!" She leapt from the counter and practically jumped on her friend. Lance choked as she tightly hugged his neck. "The movie didn't work! So I tried a different movie, and then toys, and then catnip, but nothing worked! Blue just kept on following me, and staring at me, and trying to sit on me! I accidentally fell asleep around eleven, and when I woke up, she was lying on my chest with her paws on my boobs! She was groping me! Laaannnccceee!" She cried, hugging tighter. Lance was now turning a shade of purple, so Keith quickly stepped in and released Pidge's hold from her friend's neck. Gasping dramatically, Lance staggered to the couch and sprawled out.

Pidge suddenly let out a whimper and hid behind Keith. Blue leapt off of her cat tower and onto Lance's chest, purring up a storm. Pidge rapidly shook her head, raising the spatula over her shoulder.

"There she is! God, I'm never pet-sitting for you ever again! It was horrible!" Lance laughed and let Blue rub her head under his chin.

"What are you talking about? Blue looks like she had a great time!" He lifted up his pet and walked over to Keith and Pidge. Keith grinned and scratched the cat behind her ear.

"You were right Lance, she's pretty cute." Lance finger gunned the best he could while holding a cat and winked.

"Not as cute as you though." Keith blushed and busied himself with petting Blue.

"She got all her adorableness from her dad." He retorted, glancing up and giving a sly grin towards Lance, who gave a sappy smile in return. They jumped at Pidge's gagging noise. All of her fears were momentarily forgotten due to the display in front of her.

"Ok, wow, that's so cute and _disgusting_! Holy crap were you two like this the entire night?" Keith shook his head and cradled Blue in his arms.

"No, at least, not the entire night." Blue meowed and licked his chin, making Keith laugh. Pidge looked over at Lance and scrunched up her nose. He was gazing at Keith with a look of pure adoration and love and wow could he maybe like, not, for a minute. Pidge sighed and collapsed onto a kitchen chair. Now she had to deal with two lovesick morons every day for pretty much the rest of her life. Just great. She took off her kitchen pot helmet and set it on the table next to her sword spatula.

Keith set Blue down, who immediately trotted over to Pidge and jumped into her lap. Pidge let out a long, high pitched noise and stiffened. Blue wasn't bothered by this, and continued purring. Ignoring Pidge, Keith and Lance stood by the door, talking. Keith looked at his watch and sighed.

"I have to go. But, thanks for tonight." Lance nodded and slowly opened the door.

"You know," he said, "you don't have to leave. You can spend the night here." He comically wiggled his eyebrows, making Keith laugh and walk into the hallway.

"No, as much fun as that sounds, I have to get home to Red. But how about I call you tomorrow? We can set up the cat play-date then." Lance shut the door behind them and stood in front of Keith.

"Yeah, that sounds nice."

Lance sighed and put his hands in his pocket. "Can I… tell you something? I was worried that tonight was going to end in disaster, but then, you were nice, and funny, and I had a really fun time. Thanks, Keith, for taking me on the best date I've ever had."

Keith was staring at him with an emotion he couldn't place. Lance rubbed his neck and shuffled his feet, suddenly feeling a weird shyness.

"Lance."

Lance looked and felt a small shiver at the intensity in Keith's eyes. Keith stood a step toward him, and Lance's heart jumped rapidly.

"Lance. I- I don't know how I can describe someone like you, but… you literally are one of the most amazing people I have ever known. You make me genuinely happy, and I…I think I may be in love with you."

Lance wondered if an exploding heart was a legitimate medical condition. His legs felt wobbly, but by some miracle he didn't collapse. Keith was looking at him with a desperate look, as if pleading that Lance would feel the same. Taking a deep breath, Lance took a tiny step forward.

"Don't worry, the feelings _very_ mutual, Mullet." He said quietly. Keith's eyes widened, and suddenly, let out a loud groan and put his head in his hands. Lance quickly reached out to him.

"Keith, what happened?! You ok?" He was a foot in front of him when Keith looked up from his hands, face dead serious.

Without warning, Keith's hands shot up and grabbed Lance's collar, and with one quick motion, he smashed his lips against Lance's. Lance made a startled noise and would've pulled away on reflex, if it weren't for Keith's hand sliding up behind his head. Lance suddenly didn't care that it was one in the morning. He didn't care that they were standing in the middle of the hallway. He didn't care that Pidge was probably freaking out over Blue right this minute, wondering where they were. The only thing he cared about was Keith's soft, sweet lips on his.

Keith was tense, as if expecting Lance to push him away, but Lance quickly dispelled any of his fears. He cupped Keith's cheeks and deepened the kiss. Keith wrapped his free hand around Lance's waist and drew him closer. Keith was a little bit shorter than Lance, but he was definitely stronger. Lance probably wouldn't have been able to escape his grip even if he wanted to.

Keith then broke away, panting. He opened his eyes and they burned with a strange light. Lance gulped, now very self-conscious. He probably looked like a mess: hair ruffled and sticking haphazardly all over the place, his face flushed, probably making him look like he was going to explode, and a thin layer of saliva trailing down the side of his mouth.

Keith licked his lips and sighed, his breath against Lance's mouth.

"Lance, I'm going to have to report you to the police." Lance's eyes widened.

"W-What! Why?!" Keith stepped away and smirked.

"…Because you stole my heart."

He turned around and vanished down the stairs. Lance stared after him, spluttering weakly and feeling short of breath. He was only left alone for a minute when the apartment door slammed open. He didn't even flinch, and was still looking at the spot where Keith disappeared. Pidge stormed out with her purse swinging wildly and Blue attached to her shoulders, purring as loud as a truck.

"Lance get your frickin' cat off me!" Lance didn't respond. He was still slumped over with his hands hanging limply at his sides.

"…Shit." He mumbled. "Shit! Katie… _Katie_ he used a pickup line! A _pickup line_ oh my god..." He sighed and ran his fingers over his mouth.

Pidge was not amused. She unhooked Blue from her sweatshirt and shoved her into Lance's hands.

"I get it. Good for you and your amazing date. Now, take your crazy cat. I need to get home. You can tell me all about it tomorrow." Lance stared at Blue, and then up at Pidge, dazed.

"Katie. I- I have never been more in love." He then broke into a huge smile, eyes shining. Pidge looked at her friend, and felt all the horrors of the night melt away. Lance looked so…happy. Happier than she had seen him in a long time.

Relaxing her shoulders, Pidge sighed and walked over to Lance. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder in a hug, not even noticing when Blue snuggled up to her.

"Congrats, Lance. I'm really happy for you, bro." She reached up and noogied his hair. "We told you everything would be fine." Lance laughed and shoved her hand away.

"Thanks Katie. And I'm sorry that Blue was bothering you. I didn't mean to put you in an uncomfortable position." Pidge froze and looked down, narrowing her eyes at the cat, who was falling asleep in Lance's arms.

"…I'll forgive you this time, just because I don't want to ruin your perfect night." Blue blinked and reached out to rest her paw on Pidge's hand. Pidge stiffened, but didn't shove it off right away. "At least the cat didn't kill me. That's something, I guess." Lance straightened and readjusted Blue in his arms.

"Does that mean you'll cat-sit for me again?" He asked, smirking. Pidge glared, but with no real heat behind it.

"The only reason why I would ever do this again would be if you paid me a million dollars." Lance laughed.

"I'll pay you with Monopoly money then." He reached over and gave his friend another big hug, squishing her next to Blue. "Thanks once again, Pidgey. I owe you one." Pidge shoved him off of her and smoothed her hair down. She put her purse back on and began walking towards the stairs.

"I'll let you off this time, McClain. But don't expect me to be this merciful next time!" Lance laughed again and waved to her from his open door.

"Bye Pidge. Get home safe!" Pidge waved one arm and smiled.

"I will. Night, Lance. See you later." Lance closed his door, and Pidge walked down the steps to the front of the complex. She paused when she saw Keith laying on his back next to his bike, covering his face with his hands. She cautiously stepped closer to him.

"Uh, Keith? You alright man?" He make a high pitched whine and peaked at her through his hands.

"Lance is...just…he's just so _cute_!" He rolled over on his side and whined again. "I'm so screwed!" Pidge sighed dramatically and lightly kicked his back.

"Hey, as amusing as it is to watch you pine over one of my best friends, you should probably get going. We don't get much crime here, but you still shouldn't sit here by yourself in front of an apartment complex the middle of the night. It looks kinda creepy." Keith slowly got up and dropped his hands. His blush drained a bit when he looked at Pidge.

"Are you going back to your place by yourself?" Pidge nodded.

"Uh, yeah? How else am I going to get there?" Keith stared at her, and then gave an exasperated sigh.

"Didn't you think about asking someone to walk you back?" Pidge rolled her eyes and began walking down the sidewalk.

"I don't live far. Like I said, we don't have much crime here, I'll be fine. I've done this a bunch of times." Keith shook his head stubbornly and began rolling his motorcycle as he walked next to her.

"I'm coming with you." Pidge shrugged, not in the mood to argue.

"If you must, then be my guest." They walked in comfortable silence until they reached of a clump of apartments only a few minutes later. Pidge stopped and turned to Keith.

"Well, here we are. I live in 221." Keith raised an eyebrow and smirked. Pidge grinned and shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not ashamed to admit that the only reason why I moved to this apartment was to have pretty much the same address as Sherlock Holmes. So, do you want to come in?" Keith shook his head and put on his helmet.

"Nah. Thanks for the offer though. Maybe some other time." He turned on his motorcycle and gripped the handle bars. But before Pidge could turn away, Keith spoke up.

"Can I ask you something?" Pidge nodded and rested a hand on her hip.

"Sure. What is it?" Keith nervously pulled on the collar of his jacket.

"Did Lance, seem to be…happy, after I left?"

Oh, this poor infatuated dork, Pidge thought to herself. Groaning, she dramatically slumped over.

"He was so happy he could barely speak to me the first few minutes after you were gone. I swear the two of you turn into giggling schoolgirls because of each other." Keith didn't need to reply, his satisfied smile said it all. With a look that was equivalent to winning the lottery, Keith waved goodbye and sped off into the night. Pidge smiled at his retreating figure. Keith and Lance were idiots, but they were her idiots.

She walked up to her apartment and unlocked the door. It swung open and the silent darkness of the room greeted her. She stood in the doorway for a moment, just staring. The only light was the red glow of Rover's heating lamp. It was almost ominous. She flipped on the lights and locked the door behind her. Kicking off her shoes, she said hello to her snake and began her nightly routine.

Later, as she laid in bed in the darkness, she thought back to her day. It was eventful, and fun in its own way. All her friends were so busy lately, meeting new people and having new experiences. But it also made things chaotic, something that Pidge wasn't sure she wanted to go back to. Even so, as she rested her head on her plush pillow and stared up at the dark ceiling, she still couldn't stop a tiny, nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She couldn't place it, but it almost felt like…jealousy? Towards her friends? Nah, that can't be right. She's just tired.

She closed her eyes and turned over on her side. She would just have to have Lance dating Keith as the new normal from now on. It wouldn't be hard, it wasn't like she was too affected by it or anything. Her mind suddenly jumped onto a different train of thought, and she wondered if she would be seeing Shiro again.

'Don't be stupid, Katie.' She thought to herself. 'He's Keith's half-brother. You'll probably see him sometime, just not anytime soon.' Feeling both relieved and disappointed, Pidge forced her body to relax and felt her mind drift into sleep.

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 **AF: Hellooooooo! Ugh, I hope I wrote the romantic scenes right. I'm sure y'all are like, 'Oh, but ArtistFox, you're writing a romantic comedy, surely you know how to write romance?!' Well, surprise for you guys, I've never been in love with a real person before so I'm not quite sure how it all works. I'm trying though, and I really enjoy trying to create dynamics between characters. If it's cheesy, good, give me all the cheese...as long as its not cringey. I just really wanted to create a story like this! Pidge and Shiro are adorable and I wish they were near the same age in canon. But, since they're not, I'm only shipping them if they're aged up.**

 **Well, enough about them, how about dat Klance eh? I ship it so hard I'm FedEx. Seriously those two are so cute, and even if they don't end up together in canon I'll still love them! Ok, alright, enough of me blabbing. It's time to end this, but I'll see y'all later! I don't know what my updates will be like from now on since school is starting, but I'll try to update as soon as possible! Alright, remember to review, or not, its your choice! Buh-bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Woohoo! Happy (late) Birthday to me! And school is right around the corner. We finished moving into our dorms, on my birthday I might add, and I am at a loss of what to do with myself until classes start. So I decided to write more of this story! I'm trying to decide what happens next, and I have a few ideas! Mwuahahahaha! So, before we begin, ArtistFox does not own anything. Zip, zilch, nada, goose egg. Please don't sue me. Anyways, on to the story!**

* * *

"-and then he was like, 'For the last time, I'm not going with you.' And I'm like, 'Oh, come on babe! What if someone attacks me while I'm alone? You wouldn't want your boyfriend to get murdered, now would you?' And then he said, 'It's the Disney Store. You're not going to get killed there.' To that I said, 'The Disney Store is in the mall, where a bunch of weirdos lurk! Please, my sugar cake?' But even after that cute pet name, he still said no! So, I had to go get Candela and Edward a gift all by myself because Keith was being a butt and wouldn't go with me! So, I told him that I thought he was a-"

"Lance, you're like a brother to me, but if you don't shut up about Keith, I will rip out your intestines and make you eat them."

Two days had passed since Lance had gone out with Keith; two days of Pidge having to endure constant calls from Lance about how cute Keith was, how sweet he was, how perfect he was. It was, quite frankly, disgusting.

Lance was now laying on the freshly swept floor next to the fish tanks, his hands waving wildly as he reiterated yesterday with excruciating detail. Pidge groaned and let her head rest on the counter next to the cash register. The only reason why she hadn't thrown her shoe at him yet was because Rover was curled up on his stomach.

After Pidge's threat, Lance looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't kill the person who got you a present, now would you?" Pidge stared at him with suspicion.

"It depends on the gift." She replied. "If it's another Fidget Spinner I swear I'll castrate you." Lance laughed and gently lifted Rover into his arms as he got up.

"Nah, it's not. Besides, they didn't have the glittery, light up one that I wanted to get for you." Pidge snorted, watching as Lance set Rover back into his terrarium. He then walked over and rummaged through his satchel that he set behind the counter.

"Here we are." He mumbled, taking out a small jewelry box. With a flourish he held it out to Pidge. "I found this yesterday." Pidge raised an eyebrow and accepted the box.

"At the Disney Store?"

"Yup!" Lance popped the 'p' as he spoke. Pidge opened the box and smiled.

"Oh, awesome! This is really cute, Lance!" She lifted up the gold earring. It had spirals like vines going down the side, and a tiny green gemstone dangled from the bottom of the hoop. Pidge immediately reached up and unhooked the tiny white stud from the helix of her ear and put on the new earring. She looked at it using her phone's camera. Her hair was pulled back, so it was easy to see the earring. The little gemstone twinkled in the lights as she moved her head. Pidge gave Lance a side hug. "Thanks dude! I love it!" Lance beamed.

"I knew you would. And look!" He lifted up his shirt to reveal a naval piercing with a bright blue gemstone that was the exact same shape as the one in Pidge's earing. "We match!" Pidge laughed.

"Nice! By the way, have you told your mom about that piercing yet?" Lance put his shirt down and leaned on the counter.

"Nope!" He answered cheerfully.

"Dude, it's been a year. Shouldn't your family have noticed by now?"

"Only Sara noticed, and that was because I went swimming with her a few weeks back. I had to make her promise not to tell anyone else yet. It cost me a month's worth of chocolate, but at least that's better than getting a lecture from mom." Pidge snickered.

"She's gunna blow a gasket when she finds out."

"That's why I'm going to tell her that it was your idea to for me to get it." Pidge turned white.

"You wouldn't! She'll kill me!" Lance gave an evil chuckle.

"Well, I won't if you buy me coffee for two weeks after she finds out." Scowling, Pidge weighed her options. One, she didn't want to waste money on Lance's ridiculously fancy coffee, but she also didn't want to be murdered by a short plump Cuban woman who could crush an apple with her bare hands. Reluctantly, Pidge was forced to shake Lance's hand.

"Fine. But you'd better keep it a secret for as long as possible." Lance shrugged and returned to the fish aquariums.

"I'll try, but I'm going home for the weekend next Saturday. The family wants to go to the lake." He gave Pidge another evil grin. "If I'm going down, at least I'll have free coffee to look forward to." Pidge was about to throw her shoe at him when the door chimed. She turned around to greet the person and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Keith's brother had walked in, and this time, Keith wasn't with him. Pidge appreciated his rolled up button-down shirt just as much as his tank top the other day. How one person could rock two completely different styles was a mystery to her, but she wasn't complaining. His eyes immediately went to her and he gave a smile that should have been reserved for the most amazing person on earth rather than given to her.

Pidge realized that she should probably greet him as he began walking toward her.

"Hey, Shiro! I wasn't expecting to see you so soon!" More like she wasn't expecting on seeing him anytime in next year. Shiro grinned and rubbed the back of his head, looking almost sheepish.

"Ha ha, yeah. It's just, my cat," Pidge froze with pure horror, "just ran out of food. I knew that Keith shopped here frequently, and you seemed more competent than other pet stores that I've been to, so I wondered if you could help me pick out a new brand of food for my Kuro. She's taken a page out of Red's book and has become a picky eater. She can be a bit feisty too, so when I try to get her to eat, she'll retaliate and hide under the bed." He reached up to fix his hair, and a long cat scratch could be seen on his forearm.

Pidge could barely possess anything but the fact that he has a cat. A. Cat. The one thing in the world that she could barely stand to be near. From the corner of her eye, Pidge could see Lance trying to hold back his laughter. He was trying to appear busy with the fishes, but he kept on shooting smug glances at her.

With a heavy heart, Pidge decided she and Shiro would never have a future together. There was no way in hell she could ever hang out with him if the cat was involved, and if he was just as crazy about his cat as his brother and Lance were about theres, the cat would be involved with everything. Mentally slapping herself, Pidge decided to put on her 'Cashier Smile' and help a 'normal' customer. She may not like cats, but she can at least help a customer find what they need in order to keep their pet happy and healthy. She could sob over the cat-crazy world later that night, when she's curled up in front of her T.V. with a tub of ice-cream.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find a brand your cat will like, sir." Pidge stiffly smiled and walked over to the cat food. Shiro grinned and followed her.

"Great! Thanks! Oh, also, you don't have to call me 'sir'." He gave a short laugh. "It makes me feel old." Pidge winced. Great, now she insulted him.

"Sorry! Sorry! I-I didn't mean to call you old! It was just a store thing. I assure you that you look very young! I-I mean not that you're old and you just look like your young, you're probably physically young too. B-But even if you were old you look terrific for your age, like, you could be a model or something and no one would know that you're really old. Oh god, I meant-" Shiro broke her off with a hearty laugh and gave her a reassuring grin.

"Don't worry! It's fine. I'm actually pretty flattered." Pidge was absolutely mortified. She quickly turned to pretend to inspect the cat food while glaring at Lance in the corner of her eye. He was hunched over, leaning on a fish tank for support, shaking with silent guffaws. Swallowing nervously, she cleared her throat.

"So, uh, what does Kuro's diet normally consist of?" Shiro crossed his arms in thought, the sunlight gleamed on his prosthetic arm, distracting Pidge and almost causing her to miss what he said next.

"Well, I normally just feed her dry cat food. I think the brand was called 'Kibblers'." Pidge frowned.

"Unfortunately, we don't sell Kibblers here, but I suggest maybe changing brands. Kibblers is not the healthiest for cats. There's too many carbohydrates and doesn't include the proteins necessary to keep your cat healthy." She walked over to the canned cat food, which took up the majority of the shelves, and picked one up.

"I would suggest the brand 'Catri'. Since its canned food, it has a higher water content, and it contains fresher ingredients. If dry cat food sits in warm temperatures for too long, which results in it accumulating bacteria and can lead to diseases. I can assure you that Catri does not have any risk of getting your cat sick." She cocked her head in Lance's direction. "Lance uses Catri for his cat, Blue, and Keith has begun using it as well." She looked sheepishly at the price tag. "Of course, it is a bit more expensive than some other brands…"

But Shiro was not daunted by the price. He beamed, leaning over and taking a large package of the cat food Pidge suggested. Pidge sucked in a breath as his arm brushed hers. Shiro gave her a radiant smile.

"I think this will be perfect, thank you so much!" As Pidge rang up the cat food, Shiro leaned on the counter. "You seem to know a lot when it comes to cats. That's pretty impressive." Pidge sputtered, and her hand got stuck in the plastic bag she got out. What was she supposed to say to that? Was he flirting, or simply making conversation? Should she try the futile effort to flirt back, or should she deflect the conversation and talk about Rover? Shiro was staring at her with a small grin and Pidge began panicking. Her hands fluttered nervously as she tried and failed to put Shiro's cat food into the plastic bag. She crushed her fingers one time, and then missed the bag entirely on the other. Her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what to say.

Before she could combust, Lance swooped in. He gave her a quick, shit-eating grin. Now she knew that she was completely and utterly doomed. He turned and faced Shiro, who gave him a curious but polite look. Lance threw his arm over Pidge.

"Yeah, my best friend Katie is a total genius about a lot of things! Did you know she graduated high school two years early?"

"Lance, no." Pidge moaned, but it was too late. Lance could not be stopped.

"She also at the top of all her classes, and is most likely going to be the valedictorian when she graduates." Shiro looked impressed.

"Really?" Lance nodded fervently, tightening his grip so Pidge couldn't escape. She shook her head from Lance's elbow and tried to pry him off.

"He's exaggerating. I'm not the top of every class. Besides, there are other people who are just as qualified if not more so to become valedictorian." Lance noogied her hair.

"She's humble too! She's probably going to work for the government or something someday!" Pidge rolled her eyes and finally threw Lance off of her.

"Seriously, Lance. I'm not that great, stop painting it as if I was." Before Lance could say anything, Shiro spoke up.

"Don't put yourself down, it sounds like you've have amazing accomplishments." Pidge gulped and his gaze caused her stomach to do summersaults. With shaking hands, Pidge handed him his cat food.

"Thank you. You're very polite." Shiro gently took the bags from her.

"I'm not just being polite, it's the truth. You seem like an amazing girl." Pidge had to hide her dying animal noise behind a cough.

"Er, thank you, again." She smiled, which he returned gladly. Shiro waved as he walked toward the door.

"Thanks, Pidge! I hope to see you around!" Pidge waved back.

"Y-Yeah! See you later!" Lance leaned his arm on her head and waved energetically.

"Buh bye, Shiro! We're here all week if you need something! Oh, tell Keith I say hi!" Shiro let out his melodious laugh and exited the building. Lance and Pidge stood in silence for a minute, watching him through the window as he disappeared from of their view.

Pidge groaned and let her head hit the counter. Covering her face with her hands, she let out a high pitched scream, startling not only Lance, but the animals as well. Allura ran out of her office to investigate why the birds were screeching and flapping madly in their cages.

"What's going on? Lance, Pidge? What happened?" Lance smirked and walked over to calm the birds down.

"Pidge here got flirted with by her Prince Charming." Allura's shoulders immediately lost their tension, and she raised an eyebrow. She then took a bird out of its cage and gently stroked it to calm it down.

"Oh, and this prince would be?" Pidge shushed Lance but his hand covered her mouth. He was grinning like the mischievous cat he was.

"Takashi Shirogane! My widdle Pidgey's crush!" Allura smiled and let out an 'awww', to which Pidge immediately scowled at. She shoved Lance's hand off.

"I'm not twelve! I don't have a 'crush'!"

"Sure, and you just froze and stared at him like he hung the stars in the sky because you think he's just a normal customer." Pidge glared at him and crossed her arms.

"He is just a normal customer! The only thing that makes him a bit different is that he's Keith's brother! That's it!" Allura and Lance shared a knowing glance. Lance sighed and patted her head.

"Oh, my poor, poor friend. You can deny it all you want, but that won't lead you to happiness." Shaking her head, Pidge stomped over to restock the bird feed, even though it didn't need it.

"I am happy! I'm fine with just being acquaintances/friends with Shiro." Lance looked to Allura for help. She nodded, and walked over and grabbed the bird feed package from Pidge's hands.

"Pidge, we aren't asking for you to immediately commit to a relationship with him. This is just the first time you've shown a liking to someone romantically since…." She trailed off at the look on Pidge's face. Allura sighed and shook her head, trying to squash the package onto the shelf. "How about you just try to be friends with Shiro? He's an awesome guy, and it's always nice to have another friend like him."

Pidge pushed her bangs back and sighed.

"...Alright. Fine. That's what I was planning on doing anyway." Lance rolled his eyes.

"Liar. You were planning on avoiding him as much as possible." Pidge huffed and avoided his eye; Lance hit the nail on the head. He gave her a look. "I know that his gorgeous Greek god bod intimidates you, but Keith's told me about him, and he's definitely the kind of guy who would be fun to hang with. Allura," the woman looked at him, "are you able to set up a date where we can officially hang out with him?"

Allura ignored Pidge shaking her head and smiled.

"Of course! It may take a while though, he's been busy with work lately." Lance grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Awesome sauce! Thank Al!" Allura nodded and walked back to her office.

"Oh, Pidge," she paused, and turned, "the tarantulas need their terrariums cleaned out." Pidge nodded, and Allura gave a mischevious smirk. "Don't think about Shiro too much and get distracted." She closed her office door before she could get glared at. Pidge swore under her breath and stomped over to the tarantulas. They had a total of five in all, three of them were a Costa Rican Stripe-Knee, one was a Rose Hair, and the final was a Mexican Curly Hair. Pidge wasn't one to choose favorites of the store's animals, unless you count Rover, but the one Mexican Curly Hair tarantula held a soft spot in her heart.

The other tarantulas didn't like to be interacted with very much, which was understandable, but the Curly Hair was surprisingly social. He liked to be picked up by Pidge and sat comfortably on her shoulder sometimes when she went around feeding the animals. He was very docile, and was never aggravated unless he was provoked. Pidge liked his fuzzy little body and how it tickled when he crawled on her hand. Secretly, Pidge named him Henry.

The tarantulas didn't move much as Pidge gently took them out one by one and cleaned their terrariums. It was tiresome work, but Pidge had a playlist going on her phone and sang to herself to pass the time. When she finally got to Henry's tank, she smiled.

"Hey Henry, how're you doing buddy?" She whispered. Henry poked a leg out from under his log. Pidge giggled and gently lifted him out of the terrarium and set him on her shoulder. He was the only tarantula she could do that with. Henry settled down, and once he was still and comfy, Pidge began to work. She gave him just as much care as the other spiders, not choosing favorites when it came to the arachnid's health.

A Disney song began to play, and she began to sing along, quietly at first. By the time she got to the first chorus, she was signing loudly and shimmying in her spot as she wiped the terrarium with a cleaning rag. She was careful not to move her shoulders too much so Henry could be comfortable, and she occasionally looked down and sang to the tarantula.

What she didn't know was that Lance was videotaping the entire thing. It would go in his Pidge blackmail pile for a later use.

When she was finally done, Pidge gently put Henry back into his terrarium and closed the lid. She wiped her forehead and washed her hands. At least tarantulas weren't very messy, so it's easier to clean their tanks than cleaning the bird cages. That was a job that both Lance and Pidge feared equally, and they always had grueling Rock Paper Scissors tournaments to see who gets the bird cage cleaning duty for that day.

Fortunately, Pidge was unnaturally lucky at Rock Paper Scissors. But, with most board-games, her luck was nonexistent. Monopoly Night is never a fun evening for her, but she goes anyway for the food Hunk always brings. The only board-game that Pidge has ever had semi-success in was Clue.

At least Lance and Pidge never played board-games to decide who gets to do what chore in the pet shop. Pidge would be stuck cleaning the bird cages for months. She went over to examine the birds to make sure they were healthy. Lance had not surprisingly done his job, and had done it very well. The cages were spotless, and he put in fresh water, food, and toys. The birds looked very calm. They were either resting, eating, or grooming themselves or another.

'Lance probably sang to them.' Pidge thought to herself. Like her, Lance liked to sing under his breath while cleaning. His voice always calmed down even the most rowdy of birds. Pidge's singing, however, always seemed to aggravate them. The birds shrieked and squawked even when she just hummed to herself.

The birds eyed her, as if daring her to start singing and ruin their good mood. Pidge rolled her eyes at them. Birds were ok, but they weren't her favorite. They were above cats, but definitely below reptiles, amphibians, and canines; at least they liked her singing.

Pidge slipped extra bird treats between the cage bars. This seemed to appease the birds, and they tweeted happily at her. She turned when the door opened and the bell chimed. A mother and her two children walked in. The small boy and girl looked around in awe, and began pointing at the birds and fish.

Pidge smiled at the mother and walked over to her.

"Welcome to Altea's Pet Stop! What can I help you with?" The mother grinned politely.

"We're just looking for right now." Pidge nodded and let the small family wonder. She went behind the counter and occasionally glanced over at them to see if they needed any help. The children were chatting with each other with excitement, looking at every single animal. The mother smiled at them, but when she saw the prices of the animals that the children wanted, and the prices of the supplies needed to take care of them, her face fell.

She smiled uncomfortably at her children, who did not seem to notice their mother's discomfort, and continued looking and the animals. The mother looked around for a few minutes, and then walked over to Pidge.

"Excuse me." Pidge smiled.

"Yes?"

"My son and daughter have been wanting a pet for some time, but I can't afford a big animal like a dog, or a cat. Do you have any small animals that would not cost much in the long run?" Pidge tapped her chin in thought.

"The mice are relatively inexpensive. You will need to buy a cage, bedding, and other supplies such as a food dish and water dispenser, but generally they are cheaper than, say, reptiles. The reptiles will need heating lamps and other accessories to keep them warm or healthy. Their food also tends to be a bit more expensive here."

Pidge walked over to the mice and the mother followed. Pidge gestured to the mice behind the glass.

"Mice are sociable creatures, so you may want to get two if you are able to. All our mice here are male, so you don't have to worry about them accidentally breeding."

The mother looked thoughtfully at the fluffy mice playing and eating. She glanced at the price tags and gave a small sigh of relief. Her children suddenly ran up.

"Mommy! I want a birdie!" The little girl said, pulling on her mother's shirt. Her brother shook his head.

"No, I want a lizard! They have a yellow one!" Their mom knelt down.

"I'm sorry, sweethearts, but those animals are a bit too expensive. And Anna, you know dad doesn't like birds." The little girl pouted, but nodded her head in understanding. The little boy crossed his arms.

"But I want a lizard!" His mom pointed to the mice.

"You can't play or cuddle with a lizard. How about a cute little mouse instead?" The boy and girl stood on their tiptoes to look at the mice. The girl cooed at them, but the boy frowned.

"They look kind of stupid to me." His mother gave him a slightly stern look.

"Eddy, you know you shouldn't say that word, especially about this nice lady's mice." The boy quickly glanced at Pidge and then looked down, blushing.

"Sorry." He mumbled. Pidge gave him a comforting smile.

"It's ok! How about you look at these guys instead?" She led him to a small tank a few away from the mice. The boy and girl shyly followed. The children's eyes widened as they saw the animal inside.

"A rat?!" The little girl almost shrieked. "Mommy says they're always dirty and disgusting, and carry diseases!" Pidge gently shook her head.

"Those are wild rats who have live in the garbage and other nasty places. Your mom is right that they can carry diseases. But these rats have been raised by humans since they were babies, and are perfectly clean and healthy." The mother looked skeptical at the small white rat scurrying on its wheel. They heard footsteps, and looked over to see Lance smiling at them.

"My friend is right, ma'am. These rats carry no diseases, so they are perfectly safe for kids to handle. These guys are sociable, and even like to cuddle. They're pretty smart too, so you can train them if you'd like. My cousin has a rat, and she loves him as much as an owner can love her pet." Lance leaned over and stared fondly at the rats. "They're just misunderstood, that's all." The children were looking at the rats with a new interest now. The mother checked the prices for rat supplies.

"Are you sure they don't bite, or scratch?" She asked. Pidge shook her head.

"I won't lie and say that they'll never do those things, but they are pretty tame and they refrain from biting as long as they don't feel like they are being attacked." The mother looked a little worried, but she nodded.

"Mommy, look!" The little girl cried. "This one has a tiny black spot on his head, like a crown! Oh please can we get him?!" The boy nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! He's like a prince!" He smiled as the rat wiggled its nose at them. "He's also pretty cute." The mom looked at her children.

"Are you really sure about a rat?" The kids nodded again, wiggling with anticipation. The woman thought for a moment. As she stared at the animal, the bell on the door rang again, and another family walked in. Lance looked at them, and then at Pidge.

"I'll go help them." He gave a final grin at the kids and their mom and walked over to speak to the other family. Pidge looked over at the mother, who was still examining the rat.

"Would you like to hold him?" She asked. The mom looked up.

"We can do that?" Pidge nodded and opened the top of the tank. Reaching in, she scooped up the rat the kids were pointing at and handed him over to the mom. The woman gently accepted the rat into her hands and looked down at him. The rat's nose was wiggling rapidly as he sniffed the air around him. He gently placed a paw on top of the hand that was holding him and looked up at the human above him.

The woman slowly grinned.

"I guess he is kind of cute." Her kids jumped next to her.

"Can I hold him, please?" Asked the boy. His sister tried to push him out of the way.

"No, I want to hold him!" The mom reached down and passed the rat to the boy.

"Calm down and take turns. Eddy asked first." The girl pouted and watched as her brother grinned at the animal in his hands. He then gently passed the rat to his sister, who immediately began to cuddle it.

"He's so so so cute!" She squealed. The rat wasn't irritated at being squashed up against her cheek, he merely looked puzzled. The mom breathed a small sigh of relieve when the animal didn't retaliate. She turned and grinned at Pidge.

"I think he's the one." She said, and her kids cheered. Pidge smiled. She loved it when she was able to be a part of helping an animal find its home. A few minutes later, the small family were loaded with cheap, but suitable equipment for their new pet. Pidge waved goodbye to them as they walked out the door, chatting happily with each other.

Lance appeared next to her and smiled. The family he was helping had already found what they were looking for and were gone. Pidge checked the clock and began getting ready to close up shop. She talked over her shoulder as she began shutting the blinds to the windows.

"Thanks for helping me with that family, Lance. I think the mom felt better about getting a rat when she knew more than one person that assured her that they were good pets." Lance grinned and began pulling the blankets over the bird cages to help the birds sleep.

"No prob. Those little guys need a home just as much as the mainstream pets. Besides," he ruffled Pidge's hair as he walked by, "I can't let you be the only employee to look like they know what they're doing."

After closing up, they said goodbye to Allura and walked out of the shop. Rover was snoozing on his usual spot on Pidge's shoulder. The evenings were cooler than the day, but not enough so that Pidge was worried that her snake would be too cold.

She looked up from her snake and was surprised to see Keith sitting on his parked motorcycle, waiting outside the building. Lance brightened and hurried over to him. Keith smiled and handed him his helmet.

"You ready to go?" Lance nodded and let Keith help him put on the helmet. He could probably do it himself now, but he didn't want to give up the feeling of Keith caring for him. Pidge stared at them, confused.

"Keith, what are you doing here?" Keith clipped on Lance's helmet, and Lance turned to her.

"I'm going over to his place to see Red. Keith suggested that she meet me first before meeting Blue." Pidge glared at him.

"You failed to mention that to me when you were gushing over your boyfriend earlier." Lance shrugged and happily got on the motorcycle behind Keith.

"It just didn't come up." He nuzzled his cheek against Keith's head. "Bragging about how cute my man is was more important." Keith smiled, and Pidge groaned at the dopey couple. She waved goodbye as she walked down the sidewalk. The sun was only setting, so Keith didn't have a problem with letting her walk by herself. Pidge turned to call over her shoulder.

"Later losers! Have fun, and practice safe sex!"

She cackled at the boy's indignant squawks at her and didn't look back. The rest of her evening went about as normal: go home, eat, watch T.V. while eating from a tub of ice cream, and go to bed. She turned off her phone halfway through dinner so she didn't have to look at Lance's texts gushing about Keith and how adorable Red was. It was a completely normal night, so that's why she assumed that it would be a normal morning the next day.

She woke up ten minutes late per usual and dragged herself to her bathroom. She was still hazy with sleep, so she nearly brushed her hair with her toothbrush and brushed her teeth with her hairbrush. After correcting her mistake when she realized that she should not be putting toothpaste on a comb, she finished getting ready and pulled on her uniform.

She yawned widely and stumbled into the kitchen to eat a leftover slice of pizza for breakfast. While munched, she brewed a fresh cup of coffee. She sipped the steaming liquid and sighed in contentment. Now she felt more alive. She poured another cup into a thermos and searched for her purse.

She swung it onto her shoulder and checked her makeup one last time in the hallway mirror. Thank goodness she was able to do her eyeliner correctly while half asleep. She decided to ignore her glasses for today; they were for aesthetic anyway, so it's not like she needed them.

"Alright Rover, let's get a move on. Allura will really throw a fit if we're an hour late." She walked over and peered inside her snake's terrarium. She didn't see him, so she leaned to look under his rock. There he was, curled up and probably sleeping. She frowned, it wasn't Saturday, so Rover should know to wake up at this time.

She lifted the lid off the tank and moved the rock. Rover peered up at her and then set down his head on his bedding. A strange liquid was seeping from his nose and mouth. Alarm bells rang through Pidge's head.

It looks like a bacterial infection, but how?! She has always taken such good care of him, so how could he be sick? She gently lifted him out of his tank and listened to his breathing. He laid weakly in her hands, and when he breathed, he made a concerning gurgling noise. He suddenly went limp, and didn't move. Pidge's heart stopped.

No. No no no no no. This wasn't happening. Why's he not moving? If it was just an infection, he shouldn't be this still! Rover couldn't be…Raw panic filled her. She snatched up her purse and gently set rover in his travel tank. Her breaths were coming out in ragged, terrified huffs now, and she ran out of the building, not even bothering to lock her door. She got strange looks from passersbys as sprinted to her car, clutching Rover's tank like a lifeline. Cursing as she fumbled with her keys, she unlocked her little red Elantra and climbed inside.

With tears blurring her vision, she set Rover's tank on the passenger seat and started up the car. She screeched out of the parking lot, and zoomed toward the nearest veterinary clinic. Her phone rang, and Pidge answered, not caring if it was dangerous to do so.

"Pidge, where are you? You're late, again." Allura sounded irritated, but Pidge couldn't process it.

"A-Allura…" She sobbed. "It-It's Rover. I…he's sick! It might be a bacterial infection, but now he's not moving! I'm scared that he might not…" Allura went silent with shock, and then answered.

"Oh my god. Pidge, calm down, where are you right now?" Pidge almost screamed when a red light stopped her.

"I-I'm going down fourth street. I going to a place called 'Paws, Claws, and Scales Vet Clinic'. I've never been there before, but the normal place I go to is too far away!" Allura made a noise of realization.

"I know where that is! I'll be there as soon as I can!" The light turned green, and Pidge went as fast as she could without killing someone.

"No! Allura, you have to stay at the store! That new shipment is coming in today, and it's too important to push off to another time!" Allura made a noise of frustration and went silent again. She suddenly piped up, startling Pidge and nearly making her miss her turn.

"Oh, thank goodness, Lance said he's going to go help you!" Pidge quickly scrubbed at her tears.

"He can't! You need help with the shipment!"

"I can take care of myself. Don't worry, Lance will be there with you shortly. Katie, please, drive safe, and I'll have my phone with me at all times if you need me." Pidge turned into the veterinary parking lot and quickly turned off the car.

"…Alright. Thank you. I'll call you later." She clicked off her phone and put it in her purse. Scrubbing her tears away, she took deep, calming breaths. Everything would be alright, she's probably worrying over nothing, she told herself. Grabbing Rover's tank, she exited the car. There was an emergency section, and she quickly entered the door. The bell chimed, and she hurried in, she was the only one in the room besides the person sitting at the desk. The man looked up, and Pidge momentarily froze when she met Keith's eye. Keith put the pen he was holding in the pocket of his uniform and stared at her with concern.

"Pidge? What's going on?" His words broke her from her shock and she quickly walked over to him.

"It's Rover!" She said, probably sounding slightly hysterical. "I-I don't know what's going on, but when I checked on him this morning, it looked like he had a bacterial infection, but…" she stared down at her snake with dismay, "He's not moving now! I don't even know if he's breathing!" Keith quickly stepped around the desk and grabbed Rover's terrarium. He gazed as the snake and frowned.

"He's breathing, but it's shallow. Have you anything wrong with him lately?" Pidge shook her head. Keith furrowed his eyebrows.

"That's a bit odd. Normally a bacterial infection that's bad enough to make him like this would be noticed sooner. I'll take him to get examined. Don't worry, we'll take good care of him." He gave Pidge a reassuring glance and disappeared behind a door.

Pidge stood in front of the desk, feeling lost and alone. What was she going to do? Bacterial infections were common with snakes, but what if it was so bad that Rover… Or what if it was something else entirely? She raised Rover since he was a tiny baby. He was a precious family member, someone who had been with her even in her worst moments. She didn't know what she would do with herself if he died. The door behind her opened, and she didn't need to turn around to know it was Lance. He hurried to her side and wrapped his arms around her.

"Katie, Allura told me what's happening. Are you ok? Wait, that a stupid question, of course not."

Pidge let him steer her towards a plush couch and they sat on it. Lance wrapped a secure arm around her and held her hand with the other. Pidge didn't speak, but let herself sink into Lance's side. She finally let out a small, shaky sigh.

"I hope I'm worrying over nothing." She mumbled. Lance hummed, and rubbed comforting circles on her arm. Pidge let her head rest on his shoulder; at least she wasn't alone.

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 **:))))) I'm so sorry. It had to be done. Why do I love putting my favorite characters through pain? Maybe I am a sadist... Oh well. Y'all will just have to wait and see to what happens next! *evilly rubs hands together* Mwuahahaha, I can't wait! I hope you enjoyed this, and will continue enjoying the story! Oh, also, if some of the pet info is incorrect, sorry. At least its a story, and it's not like real characters are getting the wrong information. Thank you all for your wonderful support, and I hope you don't all attack me with pitchforks after this! Review, or not, it's your choice! Buh-Byyyeeeee!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey hey hey! I hold ya'll that my updating would be out of wack due to school! Whew, it's been a while, but I finally finished not only my first week of school, but also this next chapter! *Blows celebratory horn* Yay! And I have future ideas that I can't wait to write down, but that's for later, and the problem is writing whats in between those moments. Oh well, I'll figure something out. How are y'all doing? Good I hope. Anywho, I should get going to the chapter. But before I do, disclaimer. ArtistFox does not own anything in this story, except the plot. I really don't want to go to jail. Ok then, on with the story!**

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Pidge paced across the room, trying to expel her nervous energy. She had finished filling out the necessary paperwork for Rover, and now she needed something to distract herself. She strode over to the chairs in front of her, strode back to where Lance was sitting, and then repeated the process. Back and forth, back and forth…

It had been only twenty minutes after watching Rover disappear behind the office door, but Pidge wasn't looking at the clock, she was only paying attention to her own thoughts. Her tears had dried long ago, but a worried frown was still etched deep into her face.

She has only felt this distant and distressed since…he broke up with her, leaving her broken and humiliated. But as horrible as the thought of him was, the thought of Rover dying was lightyears worse. With him, she lost a potential romantic partner, but with Rover, she would be losing family.

After the tenth minute of her pacing, Lance finally had enough. He reached out and grabbed onto the back of her shirt before she could pace away again.

"Pidge, you're gunna wear yourself out. C'mon, sit back down and we can make fun of People Magazine together. And don't worry about coming to work after this, Allura gave you the day off." Pidge groaned.

"I'm not worried about my job, I'm worried about Rover! And I don't want to sit down!" She pouted, but plopped into the seat beside Lance anyway. She looked at the cat-shaped clock on the wall, and then rested her leg on her other knee, bouncing it while she tapped her arm. Lance leaned over and grabbed a magazine from the side table, and put a hand on her ankle, successfully stopping the anxious bouncing.

"Rover will be fine. You said it yourself, it's probably just a bacterial infection. Those aren't normally fatal if we catch it soon." Pidge shook her head and dug her nails into her arm.

"I know, it's just- how would you feel if Blue was the one in there? What would you do if you thought you knew what the problem was, but you also knew that you might be wrong? What if everything is worse than it seems, and I was trying to be positive over nothing?"

"Trying to stay positive is better than giving up." Lance replied, opening the magazine. Pidge bristled.

"I never said I'm giving up on Rover! I just-"

"I know, you're paranoid that something will go wrong." Lance interrupted. "But being negative all the time and not even trying to think of the positive outcome will accomplish nothing. Looking at the bright side of things won't send you into a whirling state of anxiety and depression like only focusing on the negative aspects will. You're not being positive for no reason, you're trying to keep the belief that the world is not always out to get you."

"But what if the worst of my fears happens?" Pidge ran her hands through her hair, unable to keep still. Lance sighed and wrapped an arm around her.

"If that happens, you'll just have to pick yourself up. But don't forget that you have friends to help you dust off the pieces." Pidge sighed and leaned onto Lance's side. The sickening feeling of dread and panic didn't go away, but they were soothed. Her friends came to her mind, and her heart's rapid heartbeat calmed. If anything happened…at least they would be with her, just like that last time.

Seeing her calm down, Lance grinned and held out the magazine for her.

"Fortunately, we have these pieces of trash to keep our mind off things. Did you see what happened? Maria Kingsworth just divorced Jacob and not two days later was seen with Christopher Joson!" Pidge rolled her eyes and glanced at the glossy page with the image of a famous superstar trying to be discrete with a handsome man.

"That's the fifth divorce this year." She stated. Lance snorted and flipped the page.

"God, superstar drama is so stupid!"

"But you read it anyway."

"Of course! How else would I get juicy gossip to complain about?" Pidge chuckled and turned the page. She raised an eyebrow and read the title of the page with a monotone voice.

"'Maria Kingsworth: Pregnant with Alien Baby?'" Lance nodded.

"Yup. Apparently she's been eating really messed-up stuff and has been getting sick a lot."

"What's she been eating?"

"Tunafish donuts with sauerkraut mustard."

"Ok…ew. That's the reason why she's been getting sick! Why the hell would anyone eat that, anyway?"

"For the publicity, sweetheart." Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Who would want that kind of publicity?" Lance shrugged.

"Kingsworth for one."

Pidge smirked and rested her head on the back of the couch. Sighing, she glanced at the clock again and reached up to rub her eyes one more time. Lance watched her and winced. He clicked his tongue and then reached into his pocket. Pidge gave him a questioning look as he fished around, looking for something.

"Uh, what are you…?" She trailed off as he pulled out a small rag. He leaned over and grabbed her face.

"Your makeup's smeared. It wasn't that bad before, but now it's all over." He explained, and began gently rubbing the black smudges from his friend's eyes. Pidge squirmed in his grip.

"The box said it was waterproof!" Lance stuck out his tongue in concentration and scrubbed a bit harder.

"That doesn't prevent it from smearing when you keep rubbing your eyes, now hold still or I'll poke your eye out."

"I can do it myself!" Pidge wriggled some more.

"There's no mirror in here. It'll be easier to do it myself." Pidge eyed him.

"You always carry a mirror with you. It's in your wallet."

"Oh hush." Lance licked the rag and scrubbed at the smudges some more. Pidge grimaced.

"Ek, dude, gross!" Lance ignored her skinny arms hitting his shoulder.

"Momma does this all the time to us, so it's not like you're gunna die." Pidge froze at the word, and Lance mentally kicked himself. He paused, and then continued. "It'll all be fine." He murmured. Pidge met his eye, and then let her hand drop from his shoulder. Relaxing, she let Lance wipe the makeup off. After a minute, he pulled back and put the rag back into his pocket.

"There! Good as new!" Pidge shook her head and scrubbed the sides of her eyes with the edge of her shirt.

"Thanks…but you didn't have to wipe spit on me." Lance put his arms behind his head and leaned back.

"Oh please, it's not like this is the first time." Pidge playfully hit his arm.

The door next to the desk suddenly swung open, causing her heart to skip a beat, and Keith walked in. Pidge leapt to her feet and her heart began to beat frantically again. Keith looked up and froze when he saw his boyfriend. Lance blinked, and then grinned like his birthday had come early. He leapt up from his seat and ran to him.

"Keithy! I didn't know that you were working today!" Keith gave a small glare at the nickname, but accepted Lance's hug. Lance pulled back, and walked over to put an arm around Pidge's shoulder.

"So, how's Pidge's snake, is he ok?"

Pidge held her breath as she watched Keith, and prayed. This was the moment deciding whether or not her world will be shattered. Keith turned to look at her, and her lungs tightened.

He smiled.

"Rover is going to be perfectly fine."

Her body froze, and then she felt weak with intense relief. It was alright, everything was going to be alright. Lance gave a victory yell and wrapped his arms around Pidge, hugging tightly. She blinked, and then smiled, feeling tears prick the corner of her eyes. Lance laughed and noogied her head. He quickly released her and wrapped his arms around Keith, all but French-kissing him.

Pidge didn't even care about the obvious display of PDA. She let out a long breath. Her heart was still beating rapidly, and her legs felt a tiny bit wobbly. Keith finally managed to push Lance away, albeit reluctantly, and turned to Pidge. He flushed with embarrassment and tried to smooth down his hair.

"Ahem," he coughed into his fist, "let's go back so you can see Rover." Pidge nodded and followed Keith and Lance as they disappeared through the door. The office looked like a normal doctor's, only wider and with equipment suited for animals rather than people. It was a good size, and nicely decorated with fun and humorous animal pictures all over the walls. A poster caught her eye, and she stifled a giggle. It was of a dachshund with the words 'Don't be a wiener, vaccinate your pets.' underneath. Everything seemed funnier now, or perhaps she was a bit loopy after the intense adrenaline rush.

They entered a room where Rover was laying on an examining counter, groggy, but moving. A man in a white coat was standing with his back towards them. Pidge assumed he was the head veterinarian, though, something about him was familiar. He turned around, and Pidge came face to face with Keith's older half-brother. She suddenly felt the urge to sprint back to the waiting room, hide underneath the fancy couches, and never see the light of day again.

Why? Why now? When her hair's an absolute mess and her face is red and blotchy from crying. She quickly reached up and rubbed a bit of snot from her nose.

Shiro's polite smile froze on his face when he looked up from his clipboard. His eyes widened, and was obviously a little shocked. He stood still for a second, and then gave his head a miniscule shake. A huge grin appeared, and if Pidge wasn't too preoccupied with trying to decide the best method of chucking herself out the window, she would have noticed the slight reddening of his cheeks.

"Pidge! I didn't realize that Rover was yours! I saw the name Katie, and… quite honestly I feel a little foolish for not remembering your real name." He quickly set the clipboard down, nearly knocking over a cup of pens, and held out his hand. "It's been a while since I've seen you!"

When Pidge stood frozen, not answering and staring at him with an open mouth, Lance discretely nudged her. She snapped her mouth shut and quickly gave his hand an awkward shake.

"Y-yeah! Well, it's only been a day but…" She stuttered. Shiro coughed awkwardly and let go of her hand, scratching the back of his head.

"Hah, yeah, I just wasn't expecting to see you today. It was a bit of a shock." He turned around and grabbed the clipboard again, causing Pidge to momentarily question why he put it down in the first place. He turned around and walked next to Rover. He glanced at the snake for a minute, and then looked up at Pidge. She stared, feeling like she was frozen in place by those eyes. Shiro cleared his throat and looked down at the clipboard to read.

"So, Rover is a Red-Tailed Green Rat Snake, and is about four years old, correct?" Pidge nodded.

"Y-Yes. I got him from a pet store when he was about three months old." Shiro nodded and wrote something down.

"Alright. Well, he has a mild respiratory infection. Luckily, I found no signs of mouth rot, which normally appears with this type of disease. How is his environment at home?"

"I clean his terrarium once a week, feed him once a week, and I keep him at a comfortable temperature at best I can." Pidge promptly replied. She looked down sadly at her pet. "I honestly have no idea how he could have gotten sick…" Lance nodded.

"Pidge is right. She keeps good care of not only Rover, but all the other snakes in the pet store too. So none of them should be sick either. I doubt they gave the infection to him." Shiro glanced at Pidge.

"So you take Rover with you to your job?" Pidge nodded again.

"Yes, but only when it's not too cold outside. I walk to work, so I don't want Rover to be outside in that weather." Shiro made a noise of understanding and wrote on the clipboard again.

"Alright. Have you any new shipments of snakes recently?" Pidge thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly.

"Yeah. About a week ago we got some new baby rat snakes." Her eyes widened. "You think one of them could have been infected, and then gave it to Rover?" Shiro nodded.

"That seems the most likely scenario. Have any of the snakes in the store shown any signs of illness?" Lance and Pidge both shook their heads. "You should probably have them looked at." Shiro continued. "Even if they don't seem sick. You wouldn't want to be selling sick animals." Pidge looked horrified at the very thought.

"Of course not!" She frowned and turned to Lance. "Can you call Allura and have her look into the company we bought those snakes from? To make sure it's as reliable as we thought?" Lance nodded.

"Sure thing. I'll step out for a sec, be back in a minute." He grinned at her as he exited the room. Keith glanced at Shiro and Pidge, and then followed him out. Pidge smiled after him, and then frowned.

"I really hope those poor animals are ok." Shiro gave her a reassuring smile.

"Even if they are sick, it helped that you kept them in a good environment. Stress would've made it even worse for them." Pidge leaned over and brought her face up to Rover. The snake looked at her and flicked his tongue out, happy to see her.

"I only wish I caught it before it could happen to Rover." The thought of her snake silently suffering because of her carelessness was worse than anything. Rover was sick, and if was her fault… maybe she didn't deserve to take care of him…

Shiro noticed her guilt and frowned. He set down his clipboard and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Pidge, it's not your fault. Animals get sick just like humans do. It's not something we can always prevent. I've only known you for a short amount of time, but I know that you are great with animals, and you wouldn't ever mistreat them." He pulled back and picked up a sheet of paper.

"Besides, the infection is not that bad. Rover will recover easily. I've prescribed some antibiotics for you to give him. You should also check his heating lamps to make sure they are the right temperature, and keep him in a draft-free area." Shiro handed Pidge a piece of paper with instructions on it. "You should also monitor his enclosure's temperature for the next week or so."

Pidge's head was whirling with the instructions mixed with her own thoughts. She nodded, and accepted the paper, feeling a bit dazed.

"How much will the antibiotics cost?" She turned to Shiro, who was now holding Rover's terrarium. He set it down next to the snake.

"Unfortunately, they won't be cheap. But if you need financial help, I'm sure we can work something out." Pidge shook her head.

"No, it'll be fine. I'm sure I'll be able to afford it…" Even as she said those words, she began to mentally adjust her budget. Hopefully, the price wouldn't affect her too much, but we was only a starving college student who was paying all the bills herself, even though her parents were perfectly willing to help her out financially.

Shiro gave her a concerned glance and gently lowered Rover into his terrarium. The bedding had been switched out to make it more comfortable for the snake.

"Pidge, really, I'm sure I can help you if you need it-"

"It's fine." She cut him off, a little more harshly than she intended. Shiro's eyebrows rose, and Pidge stiffened. "Sorry… I didn't mean to snap. I just-I mean- I really don't-" She silently groaned and shook her head. She worriedly looked up at Shiro, and wasn't expecting him to be giving her such a gentle look. The man's kind smile made all her fears of offending him evaporate.

"You don't have to be sorry, Pidge. I understand what you're trying to say." He picked up Rover's terrarium and opened the door for her with his back. Pidge walked out and followed him, feeling a little taken back and confused. She didn't, understand it. She keeps on insulting him on accident! And yet, he doesn't even get a teensy bit mad at her carelessness. How was he so...so perfect, and nice? It made her feel…strangely warm. And happy.

They walked to the front desk where Keith was typing away on his computer. Lance was still standing in the corner, talking to Allura on his phone. Keith looked up when Shiro and Pidge approached.

"Ok, can I have your insurance and driver's license please?" Pulling out her wallet, Pidge handed him the cards and he began typing once again. She stood in silence next to Shiro, unable to think of something to say. She glance up at him, opened her mouth, and then quickly snapped it shut and looked away. The minute she looked away, Shiro glanced down at her, and then quickly avoided her eye when she looked up. This went on for a few minutes.

Lance eyed the two and quietly sighed. It was up to him to save Pidge's awkward little butt again. Grinning, walked over and sat up on the desk, swinging his legs back and forth.

"So!" Both Shiro and Pidge jumped. "Keith didn't tell us that you worked here, Shiro!" The man raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I assumed that Keith told you everything. He certainly talks a lot about you whenever I see him." Keith blushed furiously, and Lance beamed. He turned and poked his boyfriend's cheek.

"Aw! That's sweet, babe! But seriously, why didn't you tell us?" Keith shrugged.

"It just never came up." He replied. "How was I supposed to say in a casual conversation that my half-brother owns a veterinary clinic?" If Pidge had sipped water, she would be doing a spit-tank.

"O-Owns a-?" She stuttered. "I thought you were just working here?!" Shiro grinned and ducked his head.

"I opened the clinic a few months ago after I graduated college. Business hasn't been booming, but it has been pretty good. Everyone seems to like our services a lot." Keith rolled his eyes.

"Or they just like to ogle the hot vet here." Shiro coughed awkwardly and avoided his brother's eye. Lance's smile became slightly strained.

"As long as they're not here to ogle my boyfriend, I'm ok!" Shiro chuckled.

"Even if they do, Keith makes it perfectly clear that he's not interested. Did you see the picture of you he keeps next to the computer? Keith moves it so it's in a perfect view of anyone who is talking to him, and he makes it painfully clear that he's taken." Keith blushed when Lance cooed at him.

"I'm very discrete when telling them that I have a boyfriend!" Shiro snorted.

"Remember when that younger woman wouldn't stop flirting with you, so you looked her dead in the eye and said 'I'm gay" in such a loud voice that everyone in the office heard you?" Lance and Pidge stifled their giggles as Keith grew increasingly red.

"At least it got her to stop making unwanted advances on me!" He exclaimed. Shiro smirked.

"Yeah, and it also made the majority of the women in the waiting room leave the minute they heard that they had no chance with you." Keith's face gained more color, but he looked like he didn't regret his decision. Lance's eyes sparkled with adoration and he leaned over to hug his boyfriend.

"Awwwww! Keithy-kins! I knew you loved me!" Keith struggled with Lance's grip as his blush spread to his ears and all down his neck.

"O-Of course I do idiot! Now let me go!" Lance completely leaned over the desk to cling to Keith. His legs dangled in the air and his stomach crumpled the papers underneath him. Pidge ducked as Lance nearly kicked her in the head. She stood on the opposite side of Shiro, confident that his tall body would be a successful shield against Lance's gangly appendages.

Keith finally managed to shake free from Lance's grip. The other boy pouted and stood back on the ground. Keith rolled his eyes and handed Pidge her cards.

"Alright, so, back to the important stuff. The fee is thirty dollars today." Pidge's eyebrows raised in surprise as she handed him her credit card.

"Wow, that's actually a lot cheaper than the vet I normally go to." Shiro leaned on the counter on his side, facing her.

"Really?" He asked. "Which one do you go to?"

"Rivercreek Veterinary Center." She was surprised to see a small frown on his face. "Is something the matter?" She asked. Shiro shook his head, and smiled again, but it didn't meet his eyes.

"No, I just personally don't think very highly of them. I don't believe they give their animals the proper care as they should." Pidge thought back to her last visits, remembering the unfriendly receptionists and unprofessional vet, and agreed with Shiro's opinion.

"Yeah, they are not the greatest, but they were the only ones that were close by. Or at least," she looked around the waiting room, "I thought they were."

Lance suddenly came up from behind her.

"Well, how about you come here for Rover's checkups? You said it yourself that the pay is cheaper, and the staff is definitely friendly." He gave Keith a flirtatious wink, earning another blush and a small smile.

The idea appealed to Pidge. She wouldn't have to drive a long ways anymore, she wouldn't have to deal with the vet, who in her mind was a little creepy, and she wouldn't have to pay the money she normally had to take out of her food budget for the checkup. Shiro's clinic sounded like the perfect change. Though, she wasn't so sure how she felt about constantly meeting with Shiro one-on-one. But if it was for Rover's sake…then she would do anything. A small smile spread on her face as she accepted back her credit card.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I think I'll do that." Shiro and Keith looked very pleased with the idea as well, though Shiro looked slightly embarrassed. "I hope you don't feel obligated to do so just because we are your friends. I don't to force you to do anything." He said. Lance waved his hand, dismissing the idea.

"Nah dude. You have good service, and you know what you're doing. Besides, you actually care for the animals, almost as much as their owners." Lance was suddenly struck with an idea. "Hey, do you do checkups for cats too?" Shiro nodded.

"Yes. We're able to perform checkups on most animals. Though it may not be as fast as some other clinics. Our office is a little small, so it's mostly just me and this other vet who do the examining."

"Really? Who's the other vet?" Lance asked.

"She started working for us not to long ago." Keith replied. "She just graduated college with a Veterinary Degree. She's not here today because she just broke her leg." Pidge winced.

"Ouch, poor girl. Is she ok?" Shiro chuckled and gently set Rover's terrarium on the desk.

"She's completely fine. Nothing affects that girl. She broke it while doing gymnastics in the park as she was dog-walking. When it happened, she didn't cry or anything. She simply looked over to one of her friends, perfectly calm even though her leg was sticking out in an awkward way, and asked if she could be taken to the hospital. The next day, she came barging in on a pair of crutches, claiming that she was fit enough to get back to work."

Shiro grinned fondly and shook his head. "I would have believed her if she didn't fall over the next second. I sent her home for a few days of rest. She'll be back tomorrow though, and I can assure you she'll be wanting to do anything and everything, despite only having one working leg."

Lance grinned.

"I think I like this girl already. What's her name?"

"Ezor Glenn."

Pidge's purse clattered to the floor. She stared at Shiro with a white face and an icy chill running down her spine. That name sent horrible memories bubbling up from the dark places of her mind where she had locked them away, thinking that she wouldn't have to dwell on them anymore. Her lungs tightened, and she thought for a second that she was going to have a panic attack.

No, she told herself. Not here. Don't freak out. Calm down. Calm down! Her head swirled, and her grip on the desk tightened. She could barely process Lance stiffening next to her. Keith looked up and looked mildly concerned.

"Hey, are you guys all right?" Out of pure strength of will, Pidge wrenched herself from her thoughts and smiled, subtly reaching down and squeezing Lance's hand as a warning to keep quiet.

"Of course!" She replied in a cheery voice that sounded frighteningly realistic. She bent down and swiftly scooped up her purse. "Why wouldn't we be? Anyways, we should probably get going. I need to get Rover home." Shiro nodded, not looking entirely convinced.

"Alright. It was nice seeing you two again. I hope we were able to help." Pidge smiled, and Shiro's gaze melted a little bit of chill that had wrapped around her. She was able to keep the memories at bay a little longer while she was next to him.

"You were a huge help. You saved Rover, and I can't thank you enough!" She looked down at her snake, who was snoozing peacefully under his log. "I don't know what I would have done without him." She felt a sudden surge of gratefulness and appreciation that was so strong that she was nearly frightened.

Shiro walked out the door with them, and as they approached Pidge's car, he stopped and spoke.

"Actually, I was thinking if I could be the one to examine the snakes at the pet shop, if you wouldn't mind? I would rather have them be examined by me and not a stranger who may not know what they are looking for." Pidge looked at him, but before she could answer, Lance piped up.

"Of course! That would be awesome! Thanks so much for the offer!" Pidge nodded, not knowing how she felt about that.

"Yeah... That's very kind of you. It would certainly make our lives a bit easier. What time can you do it?" Shiro thought for a moment.

"I can do it tomorrow in the morning before the store opens, if you'd like." He answered. Pidge thought about the stress of seeing him the next day, but also the excitement she felt at the thought of talking to him again so soon.

"Yeah, that would work. Could you be here around six? I know it's early, but it might be better to do it before customers come."

"That sounds good. The clinic won't open until later anyway, so that's a perfect time for me." Pidge nodded and unlocked her car's door. She was about to open it, when she thought of something.

"Oh yeah. How much would it cost for you to do it?" Shiro thought for a moment, and then gave her a radiant smile.

"You don't have to worry. I don't charge for this kind of thing." Pidge raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? This certainly sounds like something I need to pay for…" Shiro shook his head, and reached over to open the car door for her.

"No. Since I'm not giving them any medicine at the moment, simply inspecting them won't cost anything. If they do require medicine, then we'll see what we'll do." Pidge stared at him with a look that was hard to decipher. Finally, she slowly nodded and set Rover's terrarium in the passenger's seat.

"Ok, then…Thank you very much, Shiro. I'm glad that I trusted Rover to you." The man laughed, and Pidge never felt so attracted to a laugh before. Shiro grinned at her as she climbed into the driver's seat. She closed the door and rolled down the window. He bent over so he could talk to her a little easier.

"It's nice to know that you trust me." Pidge's cheeks colored, and she gripped the steering wheel. She met his eye, and smiled. Without warning, the passenger-side door opened, and Lance climbed in, putting Rover's tank securely on his lap. Pidge looked at him, a little annoyed that the moment was ruined.

"Uh, don't you have your own car?" Lance reclined and put his feet up on the dashboard.

"I do, but that piece of junk finally broke down just as I was pulling in the parking lot. I called a truck to tow it and I'll be picking it up later. For now, I'm catching a ride with you." Pidge shrugged and shoved his legs off the dash.

"Alright, just behave! And no leaning your head out the window like last time! I was terrified that the truck would take your head off!" Lance blew a raspberry at her and popped in one of his CD's that he kept in her car into the disk player.

"Alright, Officer Killjoy."

Shiro smiled at their bantering and stepped back, waving goodbye.

"See you two later. Drive safely." Pidge looked at him, and couldn't think of any words to express her gratitude. She merely smiled and said,

"I will. See you tomorrow." He grinned and put his hands in his pocket.

"Maybe the next time you visit, you'll meet Ezor."

Pidge's grip on the steering wheel tightened until her knuckles turned white. Lance leaned over to say something, but she reached over and gently pushed him back. She felt disgusted with herself as she smiled and said.

"Maybe. I hope to meet her soon. Bye, Shiro." With that, she pulled the car back, and drove out of the parking lot.

The car was silent. Lance's CD was playing, but it wasn't cranked up to eardrum-bursting levels as it normally was. Lance finally looked at Pidge. Her face was white, and it looked like she was shaking.

"Why didn't you want to tell Shiro about Ezor?" He asked quietly. Pidge stiffened, and her grip on the steering wheel jerked a little. The car lurched, but then returned to its normal spot.

"Because I don't want to tell a stranger the entire, private, story of what happened." Lance sighed.

"I'm not asking you to tell him everything, just that you have had some conflicts with Ezor in the past and would not like to see her." Pidge shook her head.

"No. There's no need to worry him. I'm not even going back there ever again." That was a lie, but Pidge didn't know what to do anymore now that Ezor was there. "I don't want to confront her." Lance frowned. After a moment of silence, he spoke again.

"Katie. We need to talk about…what happened after graduation." He whispered. Pidge slammed on the breaks as a red light appeared. Their seat belts cut into their chests, but they didn't notice.

"Why?" She asked; her painfully cheerful voice had cracks in it. "I don't see the need to right now. It was in the past. I've practically forgotten all about it." She began to squirm under Lance's harsh gaze, and looked up at the traffic light. "W-Wow, this is one long red light isn't i-"

"Kaite. Please. We have to talk." Pidge swallowed, and she knew that Lance would not let this conversation end. She sucked in a shaky breath.

"Alright. What do you want to say?" The light turned green, and Pidge gently accelerated. Lance turned the music off, and swiveled in his seat to look at his friend.

"We need to talk about Ezor and…the others." Pidge frowned, and unknowingly sped up. Lance continued when she didn't answer. "I know that they were bastards, but Ezor was…not that bad.-I know," He quickly said as Pidge looked murderous, "I know that doesn't mean that she wasn't to blame. But wasn't she the only one to apologize? After, y'know, the incident after graduation."

Pidge let out a long breath.

"Yeah, she was. She came up to me the next day, and said that she had no idea that they were going to do…what they did."

"And do you believe her?"

Pidge pulled up to the front of her apartment and turned the car off. She sighed and leaned back into her seat. Her eyes stared at nothing for a few seconds, and then she nodded.

"Yeah. I do."

"Then why is it so bad that she's working with Shiro? I know she was a bit of a bitch at first, but people can change! She left his group shortly after what happened, didn't she? So why are you so scared now? Please Pidge, I'm worried about you-"

He jumped when Pidge slammed her fists onto the steering wheel. Her arms were shaking, and Pidge was visibly trying to hold herself back from yelling.

"It's not about what she did, Lance." She whispered, carefully controlling her voice. "But what HE did. I haven't seen Ezor in a two years, but now that she's come back into my life, I just…" She groaned in frustration and put her head in her hands. "I feel like he's back in my life, and I don't want that. I can't handle that."

She took a deep breath, and let it out, trembling slightly but refusing to break down. She looked over at Lance, who was staring at her with brotherly concern. Pidge stared back, and then let out another breath to calm herself.

"It's…It'll be ok, Lance. I'll be fine. I just need some time to get over it. I just wish I could stop being a baby about it and move on already." Lance scowled as she exited the car and quickly followed.

"Pidge, you're not being a baby! You have every right to not be over what happened." He followed his friend as she walked up the stairs to her apartment. Pidge nodded slowly and unlocked her door.

"…I know. Thanks Lance." She shook her head as they entered her living room. "It always seems like you have to comfort me in some way." Lance set Rover down and pulled her into a hug.

"That's not a bad thing. I'm happy I'm here to help you, Katie. God I just wish I could go back in time and kick that bastard's ass before he could do anything!" Pidge laughed into his shoulder and tightened her arms around his chest.

"You and me both buddy." She stayed there for a few minutes, letting herself bask in the comfort of her best friend. Slowly, she felt herself calm down. Her heart went back to normal, and the stress and anxiety she felt slowly ebbed away. They would be back, but that was for her to worry about later.

Finally she let go, and reached up to ruffle Lance's hair.

"Thanks for putting up with my shit today. I feel like I've gone through all the possible emotions that I could've felt in only," she checked her watch, "two hours. I'm tired as hell." Lance nodded in understanding.

"I know that feeling man. Just give yourself some time to recover. Wrap up in a warm blanket and read a good book or watch a good movie. That's what I do whenever I have an emotionally draining day." Pidge nodded, putting down her purse on the table.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty good right now. Some tea too." Lance began moving stuff off of the couch.

"Alright, I can get that started. Then we can pop in a movie and make some popcorn." Pidge looked at him and shook her head. She walked over and set a gentle hand on his arm.

"Normally, that would sound great, but for right now, I just want to be alone." Lance's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to protest, but Pidge cut him off. "Lance, please. It's been a hectic day, and I just want some time to myself. I need to-" she paused, looking for the right word, "reflect? I guess. To just come to terms with everything that's happened." Lance studied her face, and then sighed heavily.

"Are you sure?" Pidge nodded, gently guiding him towards the door.

"Of course. Really, I'll be fine. I just want to be alone." Lance didn't look positive, but he nodded and allowed himself to be corralled to the door. Before he exited the house, he looked over his shoulder.

"Would it be ok if I came over tonight?" Pidge knew that was implying for them to have one of their 'Kick-The-Sad-Out Sleepover's' that they sometimes had. She was thinking about saying no, but the look in Lance's eye made her reconsider.

"Alright." She finally said. "It'll be fine." She smiled and gave him one last hug. "See you later, doofus. Thanks again for being with me. I'll see you tonight." Lance gently ruffled her hair.

"Anytime, Pidgeotto. I'm happy I was able to be there for you again. Take care, and call me if you need anything." Pidge nodded, and watched Lance step into the hall and down the stairs, disappearing from view.

She sighed, and closed the door. Her shoes were kicked off and she stepped into her living room and plopped onto the couch. After resting her head on a lone pillow, she thought over her insane day. She thought she lost Rover, only to have him be fine, she met up with Shiro and is now seeing him tomorrow, and then she learned about Ezor…and how she was working for Shiro.

Another shudder ran down her back. If it was this easy to run into Ezor after two years, would it be equally as easy to run into him? Pidge shuddered, and held a couch pillow to her chest. What was going on? A few weeks ago, her life was perfectly normal. But now she's had to deal with crazy love-sick friends, demon cats, Rover nearly dying, and now Ezor coming back into her life! When did the insanity start…?

Pidge groaned and fell back onto the couch, throwing the pillow away from her. Well, whatever was happening, it was not good. She had to somehow get her life back to normal, and fast!

Her stomach suddenly rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since that morning. She huffed, and stood up, marching to the counter to make herself a snack. The fridge held only a few food items, and Pidge made a mental note to go shopping soon.

After grabbing a small package next to the milk carton, she sat down heavily on a kitchen chair and munched as she thought. First things first, she had to make a game plan on how to get her life back on track. Lance and Keith dating is something she doesn't mind changing, but everything else had to be fixed. She had to try her hardest to never let Rover become sick again, and would be more careful with brining him to the pet store. She also needed to take the dark memories of him and shove them away again, so they wouldn't affect her daily life.

Now as for tomorrow… that would be a problem. She would be meeting with Shiro again, and she had to be on her guard. If she wanted everything to go back to the way it was, she was going to have to distance herself from the man. If she didn't, well… Pidge thought about his sparkling eyes and gorgeous smile as he waved goodbye to her. His firm, yet gentle hand as it brushed hers when he handed Rover's tank to her, his friendly and sweet personality, and how his nose crinkled a little when he laughed...

Pidge shook herself form her daze. If she didn't keep Shiro firmly out of her life, she might end up falling for him. And if that happened, she could kiss goodbye her peaceful life. Pidge stood up and mentally steeled her mind and heart. She would get through this. Even if by chance she meets up with Ezor again, she would be ready. She would remain calm and level headed, and would hear out whatever the other girl had to say.

Nodding to herself, Pidge sat on the couch and picked up a book. She could do this. She would be able to get back to a time where she was happy. A time with no surprises, no unwelcome excitements, no futile efforts for romance, just her, her job, and her friends. That would be enough.

Pidge could still feel the lingering effects of his memory, but she would be able to tune it out. At least until Lance came over later that night, and then she would be able to forget about it completely.

One thing still nagged at the back of her mind though. It wasn't anything bad, it was just a weird thought. Pidge thought back to Shiro, and how he opened his own vet clinic.

'If Shiro has a veterinarian degree, and his own veterinary center… then why did he need to ask for my help in which cat food to buy?'

Several answers came to her head, but each one were more terrible than the last. Pidge decided to shut that question from her mind, for she knew that if she voiced her thoughts about it to her friends, they would tease her about it to no end.

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 **:)))) Hi. Why do I love to put my favorite characters through pain and suffering? Hmm, maybe I'm more messed up than I thought...eh, well, my crumbling mentality aside, I hope you liked this chapter! It might be a bit rough, but I'm trying to write while my head is full of future plans for school and my studies, so my mind has been elsewhere a lot. I'll try to update as soon as possible, and I hope y'all continue supporting me! Remember to review, or not, it's your choice! Buh-Bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Heeellllooooo all of you beautiful people! I'm finally back with a new chapter! This one was a bit more difficult to write, mostly because my brain feels like a wrung sponge after the first month of classes. Ugh, I can't wait until it's all over. Oh well, I least I have this fic to look forward to! Alright, the unusual before we begin. ArtistFox does not own anything, I think that's pretty obvious. Alrighty then, on with ze story!**

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Pidge was currently in the middle of dipping a large serving spoon into a carton of pistachio ice-cream when the doorbell rang. She paused mid ice-cream scoop and turned her head toward the noise. It was seven pm, and that meant only two things: either Lance had finally came back as he said he would, or it was a mass-murderer waiting to kill her and wear her skin as a suit.

Fists began to pound the door, almost shaking it off its hinges. Pidge yelped and nearly dropped her spoon.

"Piiiiiidge!" Lance's unmistakable voice yelled through the door. "We're here! Open up before the neighbors make a noise complaint again!" As quickly as she could, Pidge threw off her blanket and scurried to the door, yanking it open.

"Lance if you don't stop trying to break down my door, I will chop those spindly arms of yours into tiny pieces with a rusty spoon!"

She looked up, and saw not only Lance smiling down at her, but Allura and Hunk as well. All three of them were holding large shopping bags and several boxes of pizza. The delicious aroma of meat-lovers and Hawaiian-Sunrise pizza wafted through her door, but for once Pidge barely noticed. She was too busy staring at her friends.

"What the _heck_ are you guys wearing?"

They each had on a different pastel pajama onesie. Lance was standing in his usual unicorn onesie with the hood up. It was the one he normally wore for their "Kick-The-Sad-Out" sleepovers, but Allura and Hunk had both bought a new pair of pajamas for the occasion. Allura's was an eye-watering shade of pink, with cute mouse ears on the hood and a thin tail trailing behind her, and Hunk was in a fluffy yellow cat onesie that matched his real cat, Melemele, almost too well.

As Pidge ogled, Lance scooted around her and into the apartment with Allura and Hunk following close behind him.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!" He proclaimed and set the pizza heavily down on the table. Pidge sighed and closed the door.

"Sure, just come in without asking, why don't cha'?" She sassed. However, the sight of her friends and their armloads of junk food greatly improved her mood. Hunk took out the paper plates and began to dish up the pizza while Lance prepared the drinks. Lance walked to the kitchen cabinets and took out four wine classes. He then elegantly popped open several cans of soda and poured them into the glasses as if he was a waiter in a five-star restaurant.

Pidge looked over to the couch, where Allura was arranging a large collection of blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals. A bag of movies was then placed on next to the T.V. stand. Pidge then noticed that she was still holding her carton of ice-cream, so she walked over to the kitchen and opened the freezer. Her eyes widened at the large expansion of her ice-cream collection.

"Good god, you guys. Did you buy the entire freezer section?" She asked with a gaping mouth. Lance looked over and grinned as she tried to cram the container into the freezer.

"Of course not! We got only what we needed!" He said in defense. A scoff sounded from the living room where Allura was putting a disk into the PS4. She gave Lance a look.

"Lance tried to buy three whole shopping-carts of ice-cream." She told Pidge. "The cashier looked about ready to cry when I said we needed to return most of them." She straightened and walked over to grab a slice of pizza. "The manager wasn't very happy with us either." Pidge snickered.

"Honestly, I can't believe Lance didn't get himself banned from the store. He already can't go back to the QuickMart on 9nth. I think the manager there has set a bounty on him." Lance flopped onto the couch and threw his hands in the air.

"You shoot a vine one time, and all of the sudden you're treated like a wanted criminal! I didn't even do anything!" Hunk gave him a stern look.

"Lance, you drank five red bulls for the vine, and then got on such an energy high that you ran to QuickMart, did parkour over the shelves in your American-flag swimsuit, and sang horrible renditions of 'The Circle of Life'. I think it's understandable why you were banned."

Lance winced.

"Come on, give me a break, I was young then! I didn't know any better!"

"You were eighteen."

" _So_?"

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Alright, Lance getting banned from places aside, why are you all here? I mean, it's not like I don't enjoy your company, it's just, I was only expecting Lance…" Hunk grinned at her.

"This afternoon, we were wondering how you were doing, so Allura and I got together and called you. When you didn't answer, we guessed that you had your phone on silent, so we called Lance." Allura nodded, and handed Pidge a plate filled with large pizza slices.

"He told us the gist of what happened, and we thought that you would like some extra company." She explained.

Pidge looked at her, and then Lance and Hunk. They were giving her encouraging smiles. It would have been a touching, serious moment, if it were not for the ridiculous pajamas her friends were still wearing. Nevertheless, Pidge never felt so glad to have these people in her life.

"Thanks you guys." She said in a voice smaller than intended. She and Allura walked over to the couch and set down their food and drinks.

"So!" Allura exclaimed. "Who's ready for a Disney marathon?" There was a chorus of cheers and Allura reached for the remote. Lance suddenly threw out his hands.

"Wait!" They all looked at him, confused. He pointed to Pidge's day clothes. "Pidge is the only one not wearing the sacred Animal Onesie of Power! Without it, our ceremonial Sleepover of Friendship will burst into fiery ruins, and Pidge will be lost to the dark forces forever!" Their eyes widened.

"Oh, Heaven forbid!" Allura gasped, putting a hand over her heart.

"We mustn't le the darkness prevail!" Hunk yelled, reaching towards one of the bags they brought. Pidge smirked and held back a chuckle as Lance and Allura fake sobbed while Hunk quickly rummaged through the bag. With a noise of triumph, Hunk pulled out an animal onesie from the bag. He gave it to Pidge with a smile.

"Here you go! Now, hurry and change before we all die horrible deaths!" Allura and Lance nudged her towards her room. Laughing, Pidge complied with her friend's demands. A moment later, she walked out of her bedroom wearing a red dragon onesie, complete with fabric wings and tail. Lance cheered and Hunk and Allura clapped. Smirking, Pidge gave them a playful bow.

"The darkness has been sealed for another millennia! Let the ceremony begin!" She announced, and heavily plopped onto the couch in between Hunk and Lance. The couch was barely big enough to fit all of them, so Allura pulled over and sat on the reclining seat. Pidge was very comfortable; not only were her pajamas soft and plushy, but she was also surrounded by fluffy blankets and pillows. She leaned over and rested on Hunk's side and let her feet lay on Lance's lap.

"I was going to ask why you didn't get me a snake onesie, and then I realized that it would just be a regular sleeping bag." She told Lance.

"Yeah, we thought a dragon would be cooler than something that looks like a lumpy burrito." He replied. Pidge chuckled.

"You're right, the dragon is pretty cool."

Looking proud of himself, Lance turned off the lights and they pressed play on the remote.

Afterwards, Pidge would probably have to apologize to her neighbors for the noise, but for right now she was having the time of her life. She laughed and hollered with her friends as they sang, terribly off-key, along with the Disney songs. During one of Lance's favorite songs, he leapt off the couch and began to dance. Even though he took regular dance classes, he threw away all technique and chose to simply move wildly with the rhythm.

Without warning, he grabbed Pidge and they began to dance and sing a duet with the music. Lance acted the part of the princess, batting his eyelashes and pretending to flourish a dress. In order to be taller than him, Pidge stood on the coffee table and spun him around. They bowed, leapt, and twirled around the living room, smiling and giggling the entire time.

When Lance reached out to grab Pidge's hand, Allura comically pushed him out of the way and took his spot. She grabbed Pidge's hand and twirled. The roles were now reversed, and Pidge acted the part of the starry-eyed princess. She flipped her hair dramatically and curtsied to Allura, who bowed back. They giggled as they pranced around the room, trying and failing to dance as elegantly as the princess and prince in the movie. Hunk and Lance clapped in time and cheered when the song ended. Allura and Pidge bowed to each other and then to their audience.

Pidge plopped back onto the couch, winded, but laughing happily. When another song came on, she skipped dancing, and cheered with the others as Hunk began to sing a solo with the music. His rich, baritone voice matched pleasantly with the melody, causing Pidge to sway with the rhythm. The song ended, and he blushed as his friends cheered and clapped loudly.

After all the crazy jumping around and clapping, they were all content with watching the rest of the movie in semi-silence. Pidge sat on the ground with her back pressed up against the couch and watched the screen while Hunk ran a hairbrush through her hair. He had just finished putting Lance's and Allura's hair in matching pigtails and was now working on hers.

Pidge leaned back, content. The brush running through her hair felt really nice. There was a slight tugging at the locks, and her hair was pulled into two neat pigtails. Hunk announced he was done and she reached up and felt around her head in efforts to judge his work. Finding it satisfactory, she thanked him and returned the favor, putting his hair up so all of them matched. Hunk's hair was a bit longer, so Pidge could effectively put it up in tiny pigtails; unlike Lance, whose short hair made it difficult to put up. His 'pigtails' were tiny tuffs being held up by rubber hair ties.

By the end of the night, they made it through five movies, six buckets of ice cream, four pizzas, and two hours of cliché sleepover nail painting and hair styling activities until Lance and Allura finally passed out. Now, being the only one awake, Pidge laid in the darkness of her living room, curled up in a blanket and listening to the Lance's soft breaths and Allura's loud snores. Soft music played in the room as the credits rolled down the T.V. screen. Pidge reached over to the remote and hit the mute button. The room sank into comfortable silence.

Hunk then stirred next to her, signaling that he too was still awake.

"Can't sleep?" He whispered, quietly sitting up in his spot on the couch. Pidge nodded.

"Yeah." She answered. "It's just been a long day. Don't worry, I'll conk out soon." Hunk nodded and looked at Lance, whose mouth was hanging open, and a small trail of drool dribbling down his chin as he slept. Half of his body was hanging over the side of the couch and the other half was bent at an awkward angle.

Hunk stood and gently scooped Lance up. He crept over and laid his friend on an air mattress that they had inflated earlier. Lance mumbled in his sleep as Hunk repositioned him on the mattress. After making sure Lance was covered completely with a thick blanket, Hunk walked over to Allura and did the same with her. Allura continued to snore as she was set next to Lance. Hunk carefully laid a blanket over her, but the minute he stepped back, her arms flung out and landed on top of Lance's face. Lance made a sleepy noise, but didn't wake, as he was used to sleeping next to his restless siblings back home.

Pidge chuckled at the two as Hunk moved Allura's arm, which landed on Lance's stomach next. Shaking his head with a soft grin, Hunk returned to the couch. He put himself in a position so he was facing Pidge.

"From what Lance told me, it sounds like you've had much more than just a 'long' day. Would you like to talk about it?" He asked in a barely audible whisper. The T.V. was the only main source of light in the room, but Pidge could clearly see the look of gentle concern on his face. She hesitated, but then nodded slowly. Hunk reached over and adjusted Pidge's blankets so they were covering her feet completely.

"Alright." He said. "I'm not forcing you to say anything though. Speak as much or as little as you want; I'll listen." Pidge's eyes darted over to Rover's red-glowing terrarium, then they traveled down to the mug she was holding in her hands. She let out a long sigh, and asked,

"Did Lance tell you about what happened at the vet?" Hunk shook his head.

"Only that Shiro and Keith were there, that Rover was going to be all right... and that something happened that caused bad memories to come back for you." He answered. Pidge sighed again and took a sip from her mug. Her hot chocolate was cold.

"Well….We were talking to Shiro and Keith…right before we left..." Hunk nodded, urging her to continue, and she did, "and we got to the subject of the other vet that works with Shiro, and…Hunk, its Ezor."

Hunk's eyes widened, but he didn't look panicked, merely surprised.

"Ezor Glenn? From high school?"

"Yeah." Pidge nodded, and took another sip. Hunk frowned slightly.

"That is… a rather unfortunate coincidence." Pidge snorted a bit too loudly.

"That's one way of putting it lightly." She said bitterly. Hunk let out a sigh and shook his head.

"Did you talk to her?"

"No, she wasn't in today."

"Then maybe things are different now. Just because she's here, it doesn't mean that the…others, are going to come back." Hunk reasoned. Pidge set down her mug and crossed her arms.

"Humph, Lance said the same thing." Hunk scooted closer to her.

"Then maybe, just maybe, we might be right? You'll never know if anything has changed unless you talk to her." Pidge scowled.

"I don't want to talk to her. I never want to see her ever again." She sneered. Hunk looked at her for a moment, and then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He spoke calmly and gently.

"Regardless, you won't get anywhere without at least trying to talk to her. You don't want to live with the constant hate, do you?"

Pidge was quiet for a moment. Hunk looked at her expectantly, and she reluctantly nodded.

"No… I don't." Hunk made a noise of satisfaction.

"There you go. But… remember, if it really does bother you, you don't have to talk to her right this minute. You can give it a while, until you're ready… you know that?" Pidge showed him a small smile.

"Yeah, I know that, big guy." Pidge leaned on his shoulder. "I also know that I'll always have you guys to fall back onto if I need it." Hunk grinned.

"Lance said that too, didn't he?" His friend let out a huff of laughter.

"Something like that." She whispered. They stayed like that for a while, simply basking in each other's comforting company. Then, with a final squeeze around her shoulders, Hunk let go and began adjusting himself on the couch.

"Are you ok? Do you want to talk some more?" Pidge shook her head, yawning. He smiled at this, and spoke. "Then we should probably sleep. We have an early morning tomorrow."

Nodding, and eyelids drooping, Pidge fluffed up her pillow and adjusted her blankets. Thank goodness her couch was comfortable, or else she wouldn't be getting any sleep that night. Her head sunk into the pillow and she brought the blanket up to her neck. Her feet were warm in their spot between Hunk and the couch. She playfully nudged his back with her toe, earning a mock annoyed glare.

"Go to sleep, little Pidgey. Teeny birds like you need as much rest as they can, or they'll pass out in the middle of the day." Pidge smirked.

"No we don't, we just drink coffee in the morning, and that gives us all the energy we need." Hunk rolled his eyes and pulled his blankets over his shoulders.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." He looked at her over his shoulder. "Night, Pidge-Podge. Sweet dreams." Pidge returned with a sleepy grin of her own.

"Night, and don't let the couch-bugs bite." Hunk chuckled, and laid down his head. Soon, he too had joined Lance and Allura in peaceful slumber. Pidge covered a large yawn with her hand, and turned off the T.V. with the remote. Her head once again sank into her pillow, and she wiggled until she found the perfect position.

"Goodnight, Rover. See you in the morning." She whispered, before letting her heavy eyelids finally close.

* * *

A heavenly smell wafted under Pidge's nose, and her mind dragged itself from the haze of sleep. A light sizzling could be heard from the direction of the kitchen, and the mouth-watering smell of bacon grew stronger.

Pidge yawned, and forced her protesting muscles to stretch. She peeled open her eyes and blinked several times to clear their post-sleep blurriness. The first thing she noticed was that Hunk's side of the couch was empty; the crumpled blanket was thrown to the side and the pillow was still squashed onto the side of the couch. Pidge blinked again, and turned to the mattress in front of her. Allura was missing too, but Lance was still fast asleep. His legs were curled around the blanket and he was hugging an extra pillow to his chest.

Voices were heard behind her, and she turned around. Hunk and Allura were in the kitchen, now dressed in their day clothes, and making breakfast. Allura was manning the skillet while Hunk created his famous pancake batter from scratch. Pidge stood up and ruffled her unruly hair, which had partially come out of the pigtails she forgot to undo.

"Mornin'." She yawned widely again. She padded into the kitchen to watch Hunk mix the pancake batter expertly. She sniffed in approval when the scent of cinnamon and chocolate drifted up from the brown batter. "I didn't know I even had the ingredients to make breakfast." She stated, opening her pantry door and looking inside. Hunk shook his head and passed the bowl to Allura.

"You didn't. We brought it over last night along with the other stuff." He answered. Allura flipped three fluffy pancakes onto a plate that was already piled high with perfectly circular pancakes. She set the plate into the oven to keep the pancakes warm and poured more batter onto the skillet. Pidge turned on the oven light and examined the plate. It was sitting next to other plates, filled to the brim with eggs and bacon.

"Are we facing a famine for something?" She muttered.

"What with the way you and Lance eat, we need all the food we can get." Allura said, and Pidge's growling stomach didn't argue with her. Eyeing her friends to make sure they weren't looking, Pidge stealthily reached into the oven and quickly pulled out a piece of bacon. Hunk noticed a moment too late.

"Hey, paws off until we're done!" He cried, but Pidge jammed the bacon into her mouth before he could stop her. Hunk huffed and Pidge laughed as he shooed her from the kitchen, waving his spatula angrily. "Out, you starving heathen! _Out_! Go wake Lance and bother him to keep you busy." He turned his back towards her and continued his conversation with Allura.

Pidge tip-toed into the living room and stood next to the mattress. She grinned, and thanked her lucky stars that Lance was a heavy sleeper. She noticed a pen laying on the table next to the mattress, and a wonderful, yet utterly immature idea quickly formed in her mind. Grabbing the pen, she leaned over and began to draw a mustache onto Lance's upper lip. She was about halfway done with a scribble beard when he woke up.

His eyes opened slowly, and he looked up at her with confusion.

"Pidge, wha-" he slurred tiredly. She quickly hid the pen behind her back and bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"It's time to wake up, breakfast is almost ready." She answered quickly. Lance blinked and yawned, rubbing his hands over his face and blurring the pen ink. Pidge barely held back a snort, and he gave her an odd look. Reaching over, he grabbed his phone and checked the time.

"What the hell." He muttered. "What the hell!" He said louder this time. "Pidge, _its four a.m._!" He mouthed wordlessly, and then checked the window. " _It's still dark out!_ " He said with horror. Pidge looked over and saw that it was indeed still very dark. The sun wasn't going to rise for another hour and a half or so.

"We have to get to the store early today, remember?" chirped Allura, looking far too awake for the ungodly hour. "For Shiro! He's coming to inspect the snakes, to make sure they're not sick." Lance looked much more awake now. He beamed and looked at Pidge.

"Oh ho! That's right! Dr. Shiro is going to give Pidge a free inspection."

He shrieked when Pidge jumped onto the mattress, causing Lance to fly off. He retaliated by pulling on one of her messed up pigtails. Hunk rolled his eyes.

"It's too early for this." He sighed, and told the two to knock it off. Lance stood up and rubbed the sore spot on his back. Smirking at Pidge, he grabbed his night bag and walked toward the bathroom.

"BRB." He announced and shut the door. Pidge met Hunk and Allura's eye and all three of them snorted with laughter, knowing what was going to happen next. Pidge announced that she was going to get changed and was about halfway to her bedroom door when Lance screamed.

"KATIE HOOOOLT!"

Pidge didn't bother hiding her laughs.

"Karma's a bitch ain't she?!" She yelled back, and sprinted to her room, very pleased with herself. She hummed as she rummaged through her closet and pulled out her usual work uniform. It was a bit weird going about her morning routine at such an early hour, and her body was not very happy with her for the lack of sleep. She would probably crash in a few hours, but she could probably weasel her way into her hiding spot in the store's backroom and take a quick nap during her lunch break without Allura noticing.

The one thing that tugged at the back of her mind was the thought of seeing Shiro again. But she wasn't too worried; she had a plan. Or, well, at least something that resembled a plan. She would steel herself, and behave politely, but distant to him. She refused to let herself become a blundering, awkward mess because of him again.

Smiling at her reflection in the mirror, she opened her bedroom door and walked out. Lance was still in the hall bathroom, and Pidge could hear him scrubbing vigorously at his face. She felt a bit guilty…but only a bit. She joined Allura with setting the table, and after a few minutes, Lance finally opened the door. His face was pink from the scrubbing, but at least it was clean. His uniform was more crinkled than Pidge's after being shoved into a night bag for several hours, and yet, somehow, he managed to look flawless in it.

He helped Hunk bring the condiments to the table and sat heavily down in the chair across from Pidge. She stuck her tongue out at him, which he mirrored back. They were distracted, however, when Hunk plopped giant plates of food in front of them. He beamed at their awestruck faces. The pancakes gleamed in the kitchen's light, fluffy and golden brown. The perfect scrambled eggs steamed from the bowl next to it, and the crispy bacon had been sizzled to perfection. There was also toast, butter, jam, powdered sugar, and syrup sitting next to glasses of frothy milk.

"Eat up!"

They did not need to be told twice. Everyone filled their plates and chowed down. Pidge dipped a piece of pancake into syrup and took a bite. It was like heaven on a fork. The pancake was light and fluffy, with the cinnamon and chocolate complementing each other perfectly. The scrambled eggs were of the same quality, and the bacon was beyond mere words. Pidge wouldn't inhaled the meal, if it weren't for her stopping to savor the flavor of each bite. She couldn't remember the last time she had such a breakfast, if one could even compare to this one.

They ate until they were so stuffed they could barely move. Pidge let out a long sigh as she finally pushed her empty plate away.

"Hunk, Allura, you guys have once again created a master breakfast." Lance agreed in his own way, by letting out a loud belch. Pidge scrunched her nose.

"Dude…that was like, a three out of ten, give it some effort!" Lance flicked a crumb at her.

"No way man! That was at least a six!" Allura shook her head and stood up from the table.

"Alright, if you two are done rating burps, we should get going, it's already five-thirty. Oh, and Lance, Pidge was right, it was a three." Pouting, Lance picked up his plate and put it with the rest in the dishwasher. Once all the plates were cleaned up, and the leftovers were put away, they were finally ready to go.

After making sure Rover was doing alright and had been given his antibiotics, Pidge picked up her purse and met the others outside. The sun was beginning to come up, and the sky was becoming light blue. Fluffy white clouds turned orange and red as the sun was reflected off of them. An occasional jogger would pass them by as they walked along the sidewalk. Pidge walked a little bit behind the others in order to avoid being forced to walk in the grass; the dew would soak through her shoes, and she really didn't want wet feet for the next few hours.

Hunk's bakery came into view, and they waved goodbye to them. He smiled as walked up to the door.

"See you later! Have a good day you guys, and try not to scare Shiro away, Pidge." Pidge rolled her eyes and Lance smirked.

"Oh believe me, we'll make sure he'll never want to leave her!" Lance declared, and skipped out of the way of Pidge's fist. Hunk laughed at their antics and waved a final time before disappearing into the building.

After another minute or two of walking, they finally arrived at Altea's Pet Store. The sun was now above the horizon, and illuminated the front of the building. It also was illuminating the figure standing in front of the door. Pidge gulped, and discretely put her hands into a fist. She could do this, all she had to do was be normal and professional. Not engaging in any unnecessary conversation.

Shiro heard their footsteps and looked up. His eyes immediately went to Pidge, and he smiled. Pidge's stomach dropped, and all her plans crashed and burned. Like Allura, he looked unnaturally good for the ungodly hour. His hair was neatly combed, and his business casual collared shirt and slacks were finely pressed, with not a wrinkle to be seen. To make the vision even more heavenly, he was carrying a tray filled with coffees.

Allura didn't notice Pidge choking on air, and hurried over to her friend.

"Shiro! Good morning! Thank you so much once again for volunteering to help us out! Have you been waiting long?" Shiro shook his head and passed Allura a coffee.

"No, I actually just got here. That's good because that means the coffee's still hot. I know it's earlier than you are all probably used to, so I thought everyone could use a little pick-me-up." Lance grinned widely and grabbed a cup.

"I need coffee right now like I need air. Thanks, man." Shiro smiled at him, and then turned to Pidge, who felt like she was blinded by the sheer light of his goodness. He stepped over to her and held out a cup.

"I got simple black coffee, since I didn't know how you like it. I got some sugar packets though if you want them." Pidge forced her lungs to continue working so she couldn't turn purple. Smiling weakly, she grabbed the cup, only for it to slip out of her hands.

"Woah, careful!" Shiro reached down to grab it the minute she did. Pidge could feel the heat radiating off her cheeks as she stared at her hand as it was covered by his. Shiro however, was not affected by this, he simply sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness. I doubt you'd want your coffee splattered on the ground." He released her hand and grabbed his own cup. "I mean, if it happened, I would have given you mine, if you'd wanted." He scratched his neck in a slightly embarrassed manner. Pidge's hand gave a jerk, and she was grateful for the invention of lids, which prevented the scalding liquid from splashing her arm. She noticed that Lance was giving her a look, obviously trying to spur her on to talk. Gulping, she forced herself to speak.

"T-Thanks. I need coffee in the morning to function, but I forgot to make some before I left my apartment. So this really helps." Pidge was pretty proud of herself for being able to sound so casual. The slightly higher pitch of her voice was the only indicator that she secretly wanted to spontaneously combust.

Shiro smiled at her again. He then knelt down to pick up a medical bag that he had brought with him.

"I should probably start inspecting the snakes before the store opens." He said to her. Pidge nodded and quickly walked over to open the door for him. He thanked her, and stepped inside, the others following. Pidge refused to look at Lance and Allura, she could already feel the smirks they were giving her. Pidge stopped right in front of the reptile terrariums, and turned to Allura.

"Allura, how about you stay here with Shiro while I go work in the back? I have some…stuff I need to do." Allura smiled politely, but her eyes sparkled with mischief.

"I actually have several important phone calls to make, and its Lance's turn to do the inventory today. So you're free to stay here and help Shiro." Pidge blinked, and she was gone. Lance stayed just long enough to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively at Pidge before disappearing as well. The air between the two remaining people grew silent, and Pidge winced.

'Damn it.'

The two stood in mutual awkwardness for a few seconds, before Shiro cleared his throat.

"Ahem, let's get started, shall we? We'll look at all the snakes, not just the ones that are new. We need to make sure all of them are healthy." Pidge nodded, and she led him to where the snakes were. She watched as Shiro began to look at their terrariums. He took note of the state of the glass walls, the bedding, and the water. He hummed appreciatively.

"Well, if any of the snakes are sick, it certainly isn't from environmental stress. Everything looks very clean and taken care of." Pidge felt herself swell a little bit with pride at his words. It was always nice for someone to take notice of the hard work she does. Shiro then reached into his bag and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves.

"Alright, may I see the corn snakes first, please?"

The work continued for about two hours. Pidge would pick up a snake from its terrarium, and handed it to Shiro, who gently and thoroughly examined it. After each snake, he would jot down some words on his notepad. The work would probably have been monotonous had it not been for Shiro. After they began to relax around each other, Shiro struck up an easy conversation with Pidge as they worked.

"So, how long have you known Allura?" Pidge shrugged, not even remembering the rules of not talking to him she had made for herself earlier that morning.

"About two- three years. I needed a job, and Lance introduced me to her. At first, I was little intimidated by her, but when I found her collection of Naruto keychains, I knew that we would be good friends." She looked over at him. "What about you? How long have you known her?" Shiro handed her back the snake he was examining.

"I've known her since freshman year in high school. We had Pre-AP Chemistry together, and were more often than not lab partners." He chuckled as he wrote down more words on the notepad. "To be honest, I was pretty intimidated by her too at first. She was a nice girl though, and we became fast friends. I remember the time when we had to do a lab over chemical reactions, and she decided that we should get a gummy bear, and put it into the chemicals to make it explode."

Pidge laughed.

"And how did that turn out?" Shiro grimaced.

"About as well as it sounds. We managed to make it explode, but we ended up spraying our teacher in gummy bear guts and caused the fire alarm to go off. Needless to say, I had a lot of time to get to know her in detention." Pidge laughed again, and they then fell into a short lapse of silence. For once, Pidge was the one to break the silence first, making Shiro look up with surprise.

"What made you want to become a veterinarian?" Pidge surprised herself at her own daring to ask the question. Shiro looked at the animal in his hand and shrugged.

"Well, Keith and I had a lot of pets growing up. We were a family who loved animals, and still do. My dad was a huge dog person, and my step-mom was crazy about cats. They couldn't agree on one or the other, so we ended up with both. Three of each to be exact." Pidge let out a whistle.

"Wow, that's… a lot of animals." Shiro chuckled.

"Yeah, especially since we lived in a smaller house. Anyways, those animals always get into trouble one way or another, especially Daisy. That dog was, well, she reminds me a lot of Lance now that I think of it." Pidge laughed again, and he continued. "She was always running off into the tall grass, jumping all around with endless energy. She was the one who had the most visits to the vet. After a while, I got curious of what veterinarians do, so my step-mom got me a book over it. The career fascinated me, and for a kid who loved animals, it was the perfect thing to do when I grew up."

Shiro paused, and he looked like he was going to say something, but thought better of it. He then shrugged. "That's pretty much it. It's not a huge story about an epic adventure of self-discovery, but it's something at least."

Pidge watched him with curiosity. He spoke of his family and childhood so fondly, they were obviously precious to him. For a moment, Shiro felt more like a person she could talk to, and not just a handsome, untouchable guy who was on the same level as deities.

Shiro felt her looking at him, and lifted his head up to meet her eye. His gentle smile caused Pidge's heart to leap to her throat again. Perhaps she was wrong about being able to talk to him. She had a horrible feeling that if she continued to get to know him, she would be done for, and there would be no turning back. Swallowing, she quickly turned back toward the snake terrariums.

"How about you?" Shiro's question made her jump.

"E-Eh? What about me?" She asked nervously. He gestured his head towards the reptiles.

"What made you want to work here?" Pidge furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well, it's like I said, I needed a job…" She could feel his eyes on her as she fiddled with the lid of the terrarium.

"That's not quite what I meant. What made you like reptiles enough to make you want to work here?" Pidge was silent for a while, making Shiro fidget nervously, wondering if he said something wrong.

"Well," she began, making him breathe a sigh of relief, "I don't really know when it began. I didn't grow up with reptiles, or any other animal for that matter. My family didn't get our dog until I was a freshman in high school. I guess snakes just fascinated me. They didn't have any legs, but could still move around and be incredibly dangerous, so I thought they were cool. And because they were…'misfits', in a way, I liked them. They're also what led me to like arachnids, since they aren't normally the most popular choice of creature either."

Pidge looked down at the baby snake in the terrarium and smiled. Shiro was watching her with rapt attention.

"That's very interesting." He said. Pidge gave him a slightly embarrassed smile and then reached in a terrarium to grab another snake. It was one of the newer snakes they had just received a week back. She paused when she looked at it. A sliver of alarm ran through her.

"Uh, hey Shiro, I think I found one that's sick." Shiro's grin fell and he quickly accepted the snake from Pidge.

"Nasal leakage, irregular breathing…" he muttered to himself. "Yeah, this one's definitely sick. Make sure to put him in a tank that's away from the other snakes, and give him antibiotics. Keep him away from drafty areas, and regulate his temperature. Luckily, it doesn't seem like the infection is too serious. It looks pretty mild right now, which is a good thing for us. Here."

He scribbled something on a piece of paper, and handed it to Pidge. "This is for Allura. It's an order form to get the antibiotics in bulk. There's also instructions on how to take care of them for the next few weeks. For now, let's check the rest of the snakes, and see if we can find anymore with the infection."

Sure enough, they found three more snakes in the same condition. The reason why Pidge or the others hadn't noticed it right away was because the symptoms were pretty mild, and it seemed like they appeared a few days ago, after Pidge had cleaned their terrariums.

Pidge felt absolutely _terrible_. Here she was, just going about her days like normal, when the snakes were in need of help! She should've paid more attention to them! She should have looked closer at them when they first came in, to make absolutely sure that they were healthy.

After moving the sick snakes into a separate room where they would be comfortable, Pidge shut the final snake's terrarium and went over to a sink to wash her hands. Shiro noticed her prominent frown, and walked over to her.

"Don't be hard on yourself. It wasn't your fault that you didn't know they were sick." Pidge shook her head.

"No, it was my job to check on them every day. I should have been more responsible, and noticed." She gripped the sink's edge. "I...I have to be more diligent next time." Shiro frowned, and handed her a paper towel to dry her hands.

"You still shouldn't beat yourself up over one mistake. Yes, it wasn't a good thing that happened, but you know now. And I have no doubt that you will try your hardest to take care of these animals in any way you can."

At his words, Pidge felt her anxieties calm a little. She thought over what he said for a minute, and then met his eyes with a genuine grin.

"Thanks." She said to him. He smiled, showing a glimpse of pearly white teeth. A beam of sunlight found its way through the window's blinds, and illuminated his face.

She's noticed it before, but Pidge still couldn't believe how he had the most beautiful eyes. Seriously, she couldn't understand why they were so pretty, they just were. They should have been a normal brown, a certain shade that wasn't even remarkable, but somehow, Pidge's brain comprehended them as one of the most amazing colors she's ever seen. Maybe it was the way they caught the light, giving them the allusion of being a pool of molten chocolate with sunlight glinting off its surface. Or maybe his eyes were a reflection of his soul… and his soul was beautiful.

Pidge wanted to stare at those orbs for hours. She wanted to examine their gradient from lighter to darker brown. She wanted to put her hands on either side of his face and look closely at them, and memorize every single detail. She also wanted to memorize how his eyelashes fluttered as he blinked, how his lips pulled up in a smile, how his hands felt, and whether or not they were rough or smooth.

She was obviously staring, and she didn't understand why Shiro wouldn't look away. Surely he would've gotten creeped out by now, shuffle nervously, and break eye contact. But he wasn't looking away though; he was staring straight at her, still as stone, and not once making an effort to end the moment.

"Ahem."

They both jumped a foot in the air and whirled around to see Allura standing next to them. This time, she couldn't disguise her triumphant smile. "You two seem to be getting along well." She pleasantly noted.

Now Shiro wouldn't meet Pidge's eye. He quickly turned towards Allura and began packing up his supplies.

"Er, yes, well, we're finished now." He answered, and handed her the notepad he was writing on. "We found four snakes that have the repertory infection. Two of them were part of the new shipment of rat snakes that Pidge had said you gotten a week ago." He told her. Allura looked annoyed at the mention of the shipment.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I just got off the phone with the company we got them from. They claimed that they did not have any sick snakes in their possession, and it must have been our fault. However, I made some more calls, and it turns out we were not the only store that received sick snakes from them." She huffed angrily. "See if I do business with them again! After I got off the phone, I immediately located another company to do business with instead. I have checked the reliability of it, and it seems very trust-worthy. I also reported the other company, so we will see what happens to them."

Pidge snorted and crossed her arms.

"Nothing good I hope." She said with a slight sneer. Allura nodded, and then turned around to smile at Shiro.

"Anyways, thank you again! I know you probably get tired of hearing it, but you were such a huge help. It would have been terrible if I accidentally sold sick snakes." Shiro returned her grin.

"No problem, I'm glad to help." He smiled again at Pidge, who returned it shyly. A creak of a door suddenly caught Allura's attention. She glanced over and saw Lance spying on them. She looked back at Shiro and Pidge, who were now staring at each other again, and then tip-toed over to him. Lance poked his head out a little further.

"So, what's the 411, Lura'? Are they flirting with each other? Dating? Eloping and having ten kids?" Allura shook her head.

"Not yet. They seem to be simply talking. I was watching from my office earlier, and neither of them have made a move." Lance 'hmm'ed and scratched his chin.

"Alright, we should use a different approach to help these two clueless lovebirds. We both know Pidge isn't the type to simply start dating without knowing the guy first." Allura nodded, and he continued. "Well, we just need to get those two to spend more time together, in a more casual setting, and not during work." They glanced over at Pidge and Shiro again, who were too busy talking and laughing with each other to notice that Allura was not there anymore. Allura sighed with exasperation at the oblivious two.

"That sounds like the best course of action. I think we should first get them together in a group setting. I doubt Pidge would want it to be just her and him the first few outings. She would feel more comfortable next to him if she was also with people she already knows." Lance was about to agree when the doorbell chimed.

Everyone in the shop were startled at the unexpected noise. Pidge quickly checked her watch, and was shocked to see that it was well past opening time. She walked over to the end of the reptile tanks to see who it was.

A tall, homely woman had walked through the door. She was patting invisible dust off of her bright yellow sundress, which complemented her beautiful dark skin. The woman swept her short black hair from her face and looked around pleasantly. When her eyes landed on Pidge, she beamed.

"Pidge! Long time no see!" Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she hurried over to the other woman. Pidge grinned and quickly accepted her hug. It was Shay Eiden, Hunk's girlfriend since sophomore year of high school.

"Hey! How's it going?" Pidge asked, her voice muffled by the woman's arm. Shay's grin widened.

"It's been going good!–Oh, hi Shiro! Fancy meeting you again so soon!" She waved as the man stepped out from the aisle. Pidge's eyebrows raised.

"You know him too?" She was beginning to wonder how many other people he knew. Shay nodded.

"Yup. I ran into him at my Hunk's bakery a few days ago. Hunk introduced me to him, and we talked for a while." Shay grinned and waved at him, which he gladly returned. She turned to Pidge. "I was going to tell you later tonight, but I couldn't wait! I finally got a time-slot for the paintball range you've been wanting to go to!" Pidge's eyes widened, and with a wild cheer, she threw her hands in the air.

" _Yesssss_! Thank you thank you thank you! You're the best, Shay!" Shiro was about to ask a question when Lance came barging in. He vaulted over the counter and picked up Shay in a hug. She laughed and grabbed onto his shoulders for balance as he spun her around. He and Pidge were yelling excitedly the entire time.

"Who's the best person in the entire world?! It's this girl, right here!" Lance cheered. Shiro watched with helpless confusion, and was grateful when Allura walked in.

"I have a feeling I'm missing something." He said to her, watching as Lance and Pidge spoke rapidly to Shay at the same time. Allura chuckled.

"Shay works at WS Paintball. It just opened a few weeks ago, and it's become so popular that it's been booked solid. Lance and Pidge have been really wanting to go, and now it looks like they finally will." Their attention then shifted back to the conversation in front of them.

"I was able to get a time from one to three on Saturday." Shay told them. "And it wasn't easy, let me tell you. It was going to be a party of ten, but they cancelled last minute. I had to pull a few strings and make a few bribes, but I finally managed to book us in for eight people." Lance cocked his head.

"Eight? Isn't it just going to be," he counted off the people on his fingers, "me, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and you? That's only five." Pidge looked over at him.

"You counted wrong." Lance frowned and double checked his fingers.

"What? No I didn't."

"Uh, yeah, you did."

"Didn't!"

"Did! See you added an extra finger!" Pidge pointed to his hand. Lance scowled.

"No, watch!" He held his hand directly in Pidge's face and lifted up his fingers as he spoke. "One, two, three, four-" he held up his middle finger at her, "-five."

Shiro watched with amusement as Pidge smacked Lance's hand away, which resulted in the two flailing their arms, trying to hit the other. Shay's chuckle brought his attention back to her. She was watching the two as well.

"Actually Lance," she said, making him and Pidge freeze, "I'm inviting Coran, Keith, and Shiro as well." She looked over at the man. "How about it? Would you like to join us?"

Pidge watched with creeping dread, frozen in mid Lance-slap. She looked at Shiro with wide eyes. If she could barely spend an hour in his presence without wanting to disappear into the ground forever, how on earth was she supposed to spend an afternoon with him? She mentally shook her head, begging for him to decline, begging for him to say that he's busy with work or _something_.

Shiro's eyes briefly flickered over to her, and then returned to Shay. Pidge wanted to scream when he smiled and nodded.

"Of course!"

It was all over. She was doomed. Pidge could feel Lance's stupid, ecstatic smile, but she didn't dare look at him. She watched numbly, still in shock, as Shiro thanked Shay, and talked to her about the details. Finally, he gathered up, and began walking towards her. Pidge frantically realized that she was standing between him, and the door. Lance stepped away from her, causing her to stumble a little. She almost squeaked when Shiro held out his non-metal hand to her.

"It's been a pleasure to work with you, Pidge! I hope we can talk some more on Saturday, today was fun, even though most of it was spent in work." He gave a small chuckle, and his face lit up in his usual godlike grin.

Pidge's lips lifted up in an awkward smile and she limply shook his hand, which enveloped hers. Her brain takes a moment to be a bloody traitor, and relishes in how soft his skin is. She briefly wondered if the rest of his arm was like that, and the rest of his body...

Shiro turned his back, so he didn't see it when Pidge stomped on her own foot. He opened the door and cast one last look at her over his shoulder.

"See you Saturday!" He said cheerfully. Pidge made a small noise and her arm spasmed in what could be deciphered as a possible wave. Then he's gone, and Pidge wanted to die all over again. She thought it would be easy, to be able to keep Shiro at a safe distance away, but so far life is making it much, much more difficult. Allura and Lance looked amused, while Shay looked concerned, as Pidge sat on the ground and groaned into her hands, not ready to accept her fate.

* * *

 **Whew, was that a bit rough? Yes. But this was kinda a rough chapter for me to write. I couldn't figure out what to write, and then what to make the characters say. Every time I wrote something, it just wouldn't seem right, so I had to delete it and begin again. At least I'm pretty good with how this chapter came out. Well, I gotta go and do whatever people my age are suppose to do on Friday nights. Am I supposed to, like, go out and party and drink, or something. It seems like a lot of effort...and socialization... y'know what, I'm staying in my dorm and watching Netflix and ignoring the outside world for a few hours. That sounds more fun. Anyway, I hope y'all have a good day, or night, or whatever time it is for you! Oh, also, hit my account up on Archive Of Our Own! It's the same username. Later Gators, and ~Razzle Dazzle~**


	7. Chapter 7

***from behind a tree*...Hi. So...please don't kill me. I know it's been a hella long time since I last updated, but at least this chapter is a hella long one! Whew, Uni has been...interesting to say the least. I've been so busy with school and whatnot that it's been hard to just sit down and write. But, here it is: Chapter 7! Finally! This one was a bit hard to write, considering I've only been paint-balling once in my life when I was like five. So, if anyone is a huge fan of paintball, I'm sorry for most likely trashing the rules and regulations and whatnot. I know it's not going to be realistic, so if you can save all comments about how my portrayal of paint-balling is incorrect to yourself, I would appreciate it immensely!**

 **Anyways, I also just recently received some fanart for this fic, and I have to say I'm so honored that y'all actually like my story enough to go out and draw some of it! Really, y'all are awesome, and I can't say how happy it makes me to have so many people supporting this silly little story of mine!**  
 **Alright, enough jibber jabber on my part. I'm sure y'all just want to get to the good stuff, so here you go!**

* * *

The sun had been up several hours by the time the alarm on Pidge's phone went off. However, the blaring music didn't shake Pidge from her sleep, because she was already awake. She had been for the last few hours; simply laying on her back, and staring at the ceiling as it gradually grew brighter and brighter as the sun rose, and listening to the loud noises of her neighbors beginning to go about their day.

This was it. Today was the day. In a few hours, she would see Takashi Shirogane again, and she felt like a woman who was waiting for the gallows. Her chest rose and fell as she took a deep breath and loudly exhaled through the nose. Sluggishly, she turned her head to her phone, which was still blaring its alarm at full volume. Pidge blinked a few times, and then sighed again. The blankets shifted, and her pale arm crept out and gently touched the phone's screen, silencing it. Her hand slipped slowly off the side table, and fell limp beside the bed.

Maybe she could pretend to be sick…no, Allura knew that trick, she wouldn't let Pidge get away with it. Maybe she could pretend to break her leg, or better, _actually_ break her leg! After a moment of contemplating whether to slam her leg in the bedroom or bathroom door, she decided that maiming herself is probably _not_ be the best way to avoid talking to an attractive person.

Her phone's alarm blared again, declaring loudly that the snooze button would not silence it forever. She let it ring for another minute, and only got up when her next-door neighbor yelled crankily though the walls to turn it off. Sighing in defeat, Pidge turned off the alarm and checked the time. It was eleven, so that meant she had an hour until Lance came to pick her up. Yay.

Groaning with self-pity, she dragged herself to her closet. She stood there for a full minute, just staring at her clothes with unfocused eyes. Then, she reached for an old frayed t-shirt and worn out jean-shorts and slipped them on. She looked at herself in the mirror. The clothes were fine for paintball, but not for that evening. They were going out to dinner later that night, and everyone would probably want to change out of their paint-covered clothes beforehand.

Pidge thought for a moment, and was tempted to pick a cute little tank top she got a few weeks ago. She then shook her head, dismissing the idea. It's not like they were going anywhere fancy to eat, so she should dress casually. She totally wasn't averse of wearing a cute outfit because Shiro would be there and she felt awkward at the prospect of him complimenting her because of it... nope, not at all…

She began to unhook another old t-shirt and jeans when her phone suddenly rang, startling her half-to-death. She quickly scurried over and picked it up. Her worried expression melted into annoyance.

 _'Lance.'_

Wincing, she pressed the little green answer button.

"I know what you're thinking Katie Holt. Don't you _dare_ wear those ratty things tonight for dinner!" He practically shrieked into her ear. Pidge blew a raspberry into the phone.

Damn him and his stupid sixth sense in fashion. She rolled her eyes as he continued his spiel.

"Tonight, you'd better wear those adorable clothes I gave you for your birthday, or so help me I will throw all your t-shirts into a bonfire and roast marshmallows over their ashes!" Before Pidge could send a scathing reply, Lance hung up. Irritated, she threw her phone onto the bed, watching it as it bounced off the thick covers and landed on the carpeted floor with a muted thud. She turned to her closet and glared at the clothes Lance specified.

It wasn't that she hated them, far from it actually, it's just that putting those things on would make it feel like she was purposefully dressing up for Shiro. It would reduce her to a frivolous teenage girl trying to impress a crush.

With more force than needed, she took the outfit off its hook and threw it on the bed. She stared at it with narrowed, glaring eyes. The little tank top was a grey-white, with dark flower patterns scattered across it. The neckline was slightly ruffled, and two strings on the side of the curve would wrap around her neck to make it stay in place. The short ruffled skirt was a dark blue, with a single white flower pattern trailing down the side of the thigh.

After a few seconds, her glare softened. Another few seconds passed, and her eyebrows lost their furrowed look. Finally, she sighed in resignation.

Fine. Fine! She'll wear the damned thing, but only because it's really cute and she's been wanting an excuse to wear it for a while now. Grabbing a travel bag, she shoved (lightly placed) the clothes in the bottom of the bag and grabbed a pair of tan wedge shoes and placed them on top. After a few minutes of searching for miscellaneous items she would be needing, she closed the bag and threw it over her shoulder.

She would probably go over to Allura's place to take a shower after they were done with paintball, so she wouldn't have to worry about bringing supplies to clean the paint out of her hair. She threw the bag onto the couch, and then stepped into the bathroom to do her daily routine. Her hair was soon brushed and put up in a small ponytail, and she applied a little bit of makeup to make her face look a little less like a corpse and more like an extremely tired college student.

She was exiting the bathroom when a fist knocked on the door. Pidge smiled, grateful that Lance decided to knock like a decent human being for once. Her smile immediately died when Lance pounded his "secret knock" with an extra kick to the door for good measure. Scowling, Pidge grabbed a broom, strode over to the door, and swung it open.

Lance stood smiling for about five seconds when he realized that Pidge was about to unleash broom hell on him. With a frantic yelp, he crouched down to avoid getting hit. It was a fruitless effort, because now he was a sitting duck. The broom swatted on his back with each word Pidge hissed.

"Knock."

 _Swat._

"Like."

 _Swat._

"A Normal."

 _Swat._

"Human."

 _Swat._

"You."

 _Swat._

"Fuck-knuckle!"

 _ **Swat!**_

Breathing slightly heavy, she stepped back and placed the broom next to the door. Lance glanced up through his arms and grinned, his back smarting slightly.

"Angry little pigeon this morning, aren't you?" Pidge glared at him and threateningly reached for the broom again. Lance held up his hands in a truce. "Ok, ok. I get the point. Are you ready to go?" Pidge sighed heavily.

"I suppose I can't take a raincheck, can I?" Lance gave her a wide smile.

"Nope! There's no way on Earth I'm letting you miss this! Really, Pidge, I thought you were excited for today?" Pidge shook her head and walked over to her couch.

"It's not the paintball I have a problem with." She muttered in a voice too low for Lance to hear. She reached down and grabbed her travel bag. At the sight of it, Lance crossed his arms.

"For your sake, there'd better be a cute little outfit in there, or I'll be severely disappointed in you." He said with a warning tone. Pidge rolled her eyes and reached into the bag to pull out a bit of the cloth to show him. Lance hummed with approval and Pidge closed the bag again. He then placed a hand on his hip and twirled his car keys around his finger.

"I'm glad you saw reason, my dear gremlin; burning your ratty t-shirts would make my clothes smell like smoke for days. Now let's get going! The others are probably already at the range, and I know Shiro's eagerly waiting for your arrival." He smirked. Pidge shoved him out of the way and stepped out the door after grabbing her purse.

Lance skipped around and ruffled her hair as he passed, cackling as she chased after him. They sped down the short flight of stairs and skid to a stop in front of the apartment complex, right next to Lance's car.

The passenger side window rolled down, and revealing Keith sitting with his feet on the dash and arms crossed. He grinned and gave a short wave. Pidge gave a final annoyed look at Lance and waved back. Of course Keith would catch a ride with Lance, she felt kind of stupid for expecting him to be at the range already. Lance winked at his boyfriend and skirted around the front of the car to the driver's side.

Pidge looked at the little blue car with distrust.

"I thought you said that piece of junk finally keeled over?" She asked Lance.

"I thought so too, but apparently the people working on her were able to get her back up and running again." He opened the door and got in the driver's seat. Pidge hesitated, and then got into one of the back seats.

"Keith," she said as she buckled up, "if we all die because of this idiot's car going up in flames mid highway, you'd better help me kick his ass." Keith smirked.

"Duly noted." Lance made a wounded noise.

"Keeiiitthhh! Don't team up with Pidge! She's a gremlin who feeds off despair!"

"A gremlin who knows that this car would be better off in a junk yard!" Pidge retorted. Lance pouted and turned the key to make the car sputter to life.

"As if you don't." He replied. Pidge narrowed his eyes at him.

The car turned down the road, and Keith didn't bother to turn on music for the ride. Listening to Lance and Pidge bicker was entertaining enough.

* * *

It was about twelve-thirty when they pulled into WS Paintball's parking lot. It was packed, but Lance was lucky enough to find a small space at the very back of the lot, hiding between two giant pick-up trucks. Pidge gently eased the door open, careful not to hit the truck next to her. The truck was parked so close to the lines, that it barely left any room for her to get out. Sucking in her stomach, she squeezed herself out of the car and shuffled over until she had room to close the door. Sending a small glare at the offending truck, she walked around the car to meet up with Lance and Keith to begin the long trek across the parking lot.

Pidge wiped the sweat from her brow as the electric doors of the building opened. She sighed in relief as the cool air-conditioned air enveloped her. The main building of the paintball range was already filled with people waiting in the main lobby for their turn in the range. The air was filled with an excited energy, and Pidge watched as several people walked out of the building, sweaty and covered in paint, but laughing and chatting happily like they just had the time of their lives.

"This is so cool! Oh, man, Shay is an absolute angel for doing this for us!" Lance said, turning to grin at Pidge and Keith. Keith nodded as he looked around, admiring the building.

"Yeah." He agreed. "Remind me to thank her again after this." He then pulled out his phone and checked the time. "It's twelve-fifty. We should find the others and sign in before we're late." The minute the words left his mouth, a familiar voice called out to them.

"Lance, Keith, Pidge! Over here!" They turned and saw Hunk walking briskly over to them. Lance waved to them.

"There you guys are! Where's the others?" He asked. Hunk slowed down and stopped in front of them, panting slightly.

"We just finished signing in, so they're already getting their protective gear on. Come on, we don't want to hold them up!" They quickly followed Hunk past a check-in desk and into a medium sized room filled with protective gear. Vests and goggles of various sizes hung from the walls, and several paintball guns hung separately on a wall next to a large door.

As they entered the room, Allura looked up and smiled at them from her spot in a corner, where she was holding conversation older man with a large ginger mustache. Pidge had met Allura's guardian and friend, Coran, several times. He was eccentric, excitable, and if you wanted to hear a good, humorous story, he was exactly the person to go to. It was no wonder why he and Lance got along so well.

As she walked towards Allura, Pidge looked around; breathing a silent sigh of relief when she didn't see Shiro anywhere.

'Maybe he decided not to come after all…' she thought, knowing fully well that this wouldn't be the case. He was probably just running late, but hey, a girl can dream.

Coran, hearing their footsteps, turned and looked at them.

"Ah! There you lot are! I was beginning to wonder if you decided not to come, being too afraid to face the Amazing Coran on the battlefield!" Lance snorted.

"No way man! You and I have some unfished business to attend to!" He declared. Coran stroked his mustache.

"Ah, yes. From what I remember, you were upset that my superior military knowledge aided me in my conquest of your entire kingdom. You ran away like a terrified kineazle at the end of the final battle." Lance smirked at him, puffing his chest out in a confidant stance and pointing his finger at Coran.

"Maybe so, but that was only to ensure my survival! Today, however, I will finally have vengeance for the ones you had so cruelly murdered!" Coran snapped his protective goggles over his eyes.

"Oh ho! I'd like to see you try, boy! For no one has defeated me, and no one ever will!"

Hunk gave them a glance, and then whispered at Pidge.

"I guess they haven't gotten over that Risk game we played last week?" Pidge shook her head.

"Nope."

Next to her, Pidge heard the sound of footsteps. She turned around, and her stomach dropped. Shiro was a few feet away from her, decked out in his paintball gear and smiling cheerfully. He was walking towards them, and Pidge unconsciously took a few steps back. He raised a hand in greeting.

"Afternoon you three! You ready for this?" He gestured to the paintball guns on the wall. Lance and Keith both answered an enthusiastic affirmative, but Pidge couldn't say anything. The script she had wrote for herself for this specific moment was now lost in the depths of her brain.

Pidge took a deep breath to calm herself. She told herself that she knew what to do. She had been preparing for this moment all night. All she had to do was give a greeting back. Simple as that. The only thing she had to do was say 'good afternoon' back, and then the conversation will go from there.

'Come on Katie!' She told herself. 'You can do this!' Her lips rose into a polite smile, and she reached up to wave.

"Good Shiro, hi afternoon! I-I mean-Heyyyy…Shiro…what's...what's good?"

Nailed it.

Shiro blinked in confusion at her fumble, and Pidge could hear Lance and Hunk snorting in the background. Her face turned pink in embarrassment. Shiro gave a small laugh, and her face became deep red. Seeing her embarrassment, Shiro coughed to stop his chuckles, but his lips were still quirked in an amused smile.

"Hey Pidge. Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." Pidge smiled awkwardly and tried not to curl in on herself.

"Don't worry about it, its fine. I guess I'm a little tired." Shiro gave another cough to fully get rid of his chuckles.

"To be honest, I'm a bit tired myself. Paperwork for the new clinic has been hell." He replied.

"Oh. That must be rough. Is everything ok?" Pidge asked, the blush in her cheeks fading away. The change of topic helped take the edge off her embarrassment. Shiro nodded.

"Yes, everything's fine. I just need to get some problems with insurance figured out, and I've been going through the records of the supplies we've ordered. Then there are bills, bills, and more bills. Keeping track of everything has been… a hassle to say the least." He sighed. Pidge nodded empathetically.

"I know how you feel. The pet store has so many things we need to keep track of, and the animals need constant attention-" Their conversation was interrupted for a moment when a staff member handed Pidge her protective gear. She thanked the woman, and began putting on the vest. She looked up as she fiddled with the straps.

"Oh yeah, we just got the antibiotics for the snakes yesterday! It won't be long before they're perfectly healthy again!" She looked down in efforts to concentrate on the stubborn vest straps. "The only annoying part is that they're more costly than we intended."

Shiro frowned at this.

"I'm sure I can help you find a way to get them cheaper." He said, looking thoughtful. Pidge paused her struggling with the vest straps.

"I don't want to distract you from your work, but in all honesty it would be amazing if we could get them even just a little bit cheaper than they are." Shiro scratched his head.

"Well, perhaps what we can do is-"

"I can't believe it!" Lance unceremoniously interrupted them by throwing himself in between the two. "It's Saturday, we're all out having fun, but you two are _still_ talking about work?"

"Lance, this is important-"

"Nope, nuh-uh, no way, Pidge! It can be done later! Right now, you two are going to forget all about stress and work and have fun blasting your friends with paintballs! Hurry, we're about to start!" He threw his helmet on for emphasis and hurried over to where the others were accumulating next to the main door that would lead them outside and into the paintball range. Shiro stared after him.

"He's right, we should probably discuss this later, in a more appropriate setting." He pulled on his goggles and smiled at Pidge. "For right now, let's go have some fun." She tried to follow him as he walked towards the others, but she was still struggling with the vest straps. She huffed as she pulled on them, but they didn't want to budge. Fortunately, Shiro heard her frustrated groan and looked over at her. He saw what the problem was and walked back over.

"Would you like some help?" He asked respectfully. Pidge was going to refuse, but then she saw that the doors were beginning to open, and knew that she couldn't waste time struggling on her own. So she agreed and lifted up her arms, forcing down the heat that threatened her cheeks. Gently, Shiro reached down and adjusted the vest straps.

Pidge tried oh so hard not to think about their close proximity, or his small breaths on her arm while he fiddled with the straps, or how he smelled like pine and freshly cut wood. Finally, he finished the last buckle and stepped back. Pidge smiled at him shyly and wiggled around to make sure the vest was on correctly. It was perfect.

"Thank you." She said, not meeting his eyes. Shiro nodded.

"Anytime." He said with a grin. Together, they quickly met up with their friends, and as a group they exited the building and into the woods where the game would be played. Pidge subtly moved so she was walking next to Lance and Hunk, leaving Shiro with Keith. She let out a long breath and tried to calm herself. Now wasn't the time to worry about Shiro again; that bandage had already been ripped off, no matter how painful it was.

Finally, the staff member leading them through the forest stopped and turned to them.

"Alright, we've already gone through the rules, but to reiterate: keep your safety goggles on at all times, no shooting at the head or the neck area, no physical contact, and please do not climb the trees; we say that every time, but someone always thinks it's a good idea to do just that. Now after that's said, you'll need to get into two groups of four."

Pidge immediately latched herself to Lance and Hunk, who in turn grabbed each of her arms.

"Alright! The Super Heroic Individuals Team for the win!" Lance crowed, and pumped his fist in the air. Allura shook her head at them.

"Seriously you guys?" She deadpanned, not amused at the team's acronym. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk snickered. Hunk then put his hands on his hips.

"Alright, we'll be needing another member. So who's gunna join us?" He asked, looking at the others. Shay, Keith, Shiro, and Coran immediately stepped back, leaving Allura to be the only one available. Glaring at the traitors behind her, Allura gave a sigh that was heavy with reluctance. Without a word, she trudged over to Team S.H.I.T, who enthusiastically cheered.

Standing on her tip-toes and smirking, Pidge flung her arm around Allura.

"You realize that this makes you a piece of S.H.I.T right?"

Allura gave her an unamused glare. She then nearly screeched when Hunk and Lance snuck up behind her and lifted her up, chanting their team name all the while. They didn't let her down until a bemused-looking staff member walked up to them and held out a box filled with armbands.

"Uh…You'll be the blue team." He said giving them a slightly strange look as they continued chanting, and then turned to the others. "And you'll be the red team."

Pidge grabbed a pair of deep-blue armbands, slipping them on easily. She was glad she managed to get the small pair; anything else would be too big for her skinny arms. Her friends followed suit, and the staff member walked over to the other team to hand them their armbands.

Shiro fiddled with his after he put it on. It was snug, bordering on uncomfortable when he flexed his arm. Unfortunately, it appeared that they didn't have any bigger sizes in the red color. He frowned slightly, and let his arm drop. He looked over at his brother, who was in the process of putting his hair in a ponytail. Shiro made a quick mental note to take him to get his hair cut sometime; it was obvious that Keith had been putting it off.

Keith looked around until he caught Shiro's eye. He walked over to him, clearly wanting to say something.

"Hey, why didn't you volunteer to be in the Blue Team?" He asked. Shiro shrugged, fiddling with his armband again. That was...an unexpected question.

"I…just wanted to be on the same team as my brother. Is that so bad?" Keith narrowed his eyes.

"No, but it's suspicious. Especially since I know that you've been dying for a chance to spend more time with a certain someone." Shiro turned his face, and Keith could have sworn he saw his brother's cheeks redden. Keith's look of mild confusion slowly got replaced by one of realization. Shiro continued to refuse to look at him, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Really, Keith, there's no special reason-"Shiro was cut off when his brother snickered. He looked over, and was despaired to see a wide smirk on Keith's face.

"I get it." Keith said, sounding far too pleased, "You're worried that you'd try something stupid to impress her." Shiro sputtered, unmistakably turning red now.

"I what-"

"You did!" Keith began laughing, drawing the attention from the other members of their group. Shiro gave him an irritated look.

"Keith, seriously. There isn't any reason. I just know that we'll be able to work better as a team." His tone was stern, but his face was still red. "And there isn't any 'crush'. That's a term used for middle-school infatuation. I simply find her an interesting person."

Keith snorted loudly, making Shiro's eye twitch.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong," Shiro said, catching his younger brother's attention, "but I didn't see you jumping at the chance to join their team and impress Lance with your," his fingers lifted in air quotes, "masculinity." Keith lost his chuckles, but he was still grinning, much to Shiro's annoyance.

"That's because earlier this morning Lance and I made a bet that whoever loses has to clean both cat's litter boxes for a month." He explained smugly. Shiro opened his mouth to say something when Keith abruptly turned away to talk to Lance, leaving Shiro alone with his thoughts and embarrassment.

Shay suddenly cleared her throat, and Shiro, holding back a noise of surprise, flinched violently. The woman's eyes were on Keith and Lance, but she leaned over and whispered to Shiro as if she was giving him confidential information.

"I heard the part about the bet. Poor Keith has no idea what he's getting into; Lance's sharpshooting skills are legendary. His family is really big on skeet shooting, so he's developed a wicked aim." Shiro's eyebrows lifted, his embarrassment slightly nullified at the thought of his brother getting his ass handed to him.

All conversation came to a sudden halt when the staff member walked up to them and said that it was time to begin the game. After one last quick review of the rules, the staff member told them to have a good game, and disappeared into the trees. The two teams looked at each other, acknowledging the fact that the next time they see the other would be on the battlefield. After farewells were said, they each took off on different paths.

Team S.H.I.T quickly made their way to their home base, which was a metal pole on top of a hill with a blue flag tied to the top. They huddled around Lance, who self-proclaimed himself to be the leader.

"Alright team!" He said while he surveyed the area. "Battle plan! Hunk, you and Allura defend our base. Hunk's really good a defense, and it'll be hard for Allura to sneak through enemy territory. No offence" he said, turning to said woman, " but your hair is kinda a dead giveaway." Allura shrugged, but didn't deny it. Lance looked to the shortest member of their team and continued. "Pidge, you and me are going into the Red Team's territory. My job is to be like lighting: striking at the enemy, and disappearing just as fast! You're small, Pidge, so you'll be the most likely to be able to sneak through and capture their base."

Just as the team began nodding in agreement, a loud noise was sounded through the forest, signaling the start of the game. Lance looked up briefly, and then back at his team. He smirked confidently, and saluted them.

"Godspeed, my friends. May your feet be swift and you're shooting be fuckin' badass."

Pidge smirked and saluted back with the rest. Lance nodded to her and began moving towards Red territory. She waved goodbye to Hunk and Allura, and stepped deeper into the forest. For a few minutes, she followed the familiar outline of Lance's back through the shadows of the dense trees.

The air was tense, and they didn't dare speak to each other in fear that the enemy would hear them. Lance suddenly stopped in front of the line that separated the two territories, and glanced at Pidge. She silently smiled at him, and reached out for a fist-bump. He grinned back and knocked his knuckles against hers. Then, without a sound, they each ran different directions, right into enemy territory.

At that same moment, yards away, Hunk is sneaking cautiously through the trees, listening to the unnerving silence. After Lance and Pidge disappeared, he left Allura to guard the base while he surveyed the area around it. Now, walking alone in a dense forest while the enemy was prowling around, the feeling of unease was setting in. A birdcall that sounded suspiciously like a crow pierced the quiet, followed by rapid flapping of wings. Hunk swallowed nervously, and readied his gun. The trees around him were tall, and the shadows they cast were dark. Dark enough to easily hide a human being.

A twig snapped, and he flinched. He jerked his head around, and backed up so he was slightly behind a tree. His eyes scanned the forest, only to see no signs of the enemy. His heart hammered in his chest, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed nervously.

The feeling of eyes on his back made him turn slightly. In a flash, he leapt to the side, and bright green paint splattered against the tree, right where his chest was a few seconds ago. He lifted up his gun and fired, missing the shadowy figure as it ran behind a tree. Hunk ducked behind his own tree and readied for another attack. He looked around the trunk, only to immediately pull back when several paintballs whizzed by him.

He cursed silently to himself as he looked around. A large rock caught his eye, and he peered around to make sure the enemy was still behind their tree. Taking a deep breath, Hunk sprinted out of his cover. A paintball gun fired, and he dove to the ground in a summersault, only to pick himself back up and dive behind the rock. He had a clear shot of the enemy now. He shot his gun three times; each paintball whizzing by the figure's body as it ducked and weaved. They fired again, and Hunk immediately crouched down.

The gunshots stopped, and the uneasy silence returned. Hunk warily peeked over the rock, and stiffened when he saw no sign of the figure. He looked around frantically.

"Wha-?"

A paintball exploded right next to his arm. He gasped and whirled around, gun at the ready. The figure was right in front of him. Its dark outline was eerily familiar. Hunk's breath caught in his throat as the figure stepped out of the shadows, and sunlight revealed the one person he thought would never betray him.

"Shay." He breathed, voice shaky, and he slowly stood up. The love of his life was pointing her gun at him, eyes glinting. "Shay!" He repeated desperately. "How could you do this to me? I thought you died in the Battle of 04'?!" Shay shook her head, and stepped closer to him.

"You were wrong. The Dark Lord Sauronmort had saved me, and I've spent that last five years planning my revenge. Revenge on your country, your king, and yes, even you." Hunk looked shocked.

"B-But.." he stuttered, "why? I've always loved you! I've done everything for you! Does that mean nothing?" Shay shook her head and stepped closer, making Hunk step back and ready his gun.

"Oh, Hunk. Hunk, Hunk, Hunk…" she said in a patronizing tone, "I never loved you. It was all an act!" Hunk gasped, flinging a hand to his heart, and Shay continued. "In fact, I love someone else!" Hunk fell to his knees.

"You…You don't mean...?!" Shay smirked at him.

"Yes! The one I love… is _Platt!_ " Hunk stared at her, and then his shocked grimace wavered as giggles broke through. His body shook with restrained laughter.

"Platt! That…that rat!" He cried, trying and failing to look outraged. Shay's menacing look disappeared for a second as she tried not to let her boyfriend's giggles affect her.

"I knew it!" Hunk yelled, laughing through his words. "I knew you and Platt were up to something! He's always wanted you ever since you gave him that piece of cheese!" Shay was leaning on a tree trunk, stifling her laughter with her hands.

The sudden sounds of distant paintball guns shook them from their amusement. Shay blinked, and then quickly put on her evil persona.

"Ah, well, I'd better get to killing you then." She smirked. Hunk couldn't help but give another laughing smile and dove out of the way as his girlfriend tried to hit him with paintballs. He swung his gun up and fired back, missing her by a few inches. Slowly, he was backed up against a tree, and was cornered. Hunk looked around for an escape route, but found none. He looked up at Shay, and sheepishly smiled.

"I supposed I can't use my devilish good looks to convince you to let me go?" He asked, making Shay grin.

"Sorry, hon, but I still need my revenge on you. You ate the last cookie yesterday." She then promptly shot Hunk in the chest.

Hunk gasped dramatically and collapsed onto the ground. He looked at her, and let his head go limp.

"I can't believe my girlfriend just killed me in cold blood!" He whispered. Shay laughed and walked over to pat his head.

"I'm afraid I don't regret it." She stood up and blew him a kiss. "I'll see you later, hun bun." She then disappeared into the trees. Hunk sighed and hoisted himself up. He brushed the grass from his pants, and began walking towards the edge of the paintball range, where he would wait with the others who got out until the game was over. He just hoped Allura would be able to protect their base.

* * *

Many yards away from where Hunk was standing, Keith was crouching behind a particularly mossy tree trunk in the Red Team's territory. He didn't know how his team members were faring; all he knew was that if he didn't get out of there fast, he would be decorated in splatters of paint.

He had previously been talking in hushed tones to Coran about their battle plan, and they were about to go their separate ways when gunshots rang out. They yelled in shock and dove behind separate trees.

Cursing silently, Keith scanned around, but saw no one. He glanced over to Coran, who was looking around frantically. He too had no idea where the shots were coming from. Keith sighed and slumped further down his tree. At least they were in an area where there was a lot of cover. They were in a dip in the ground, and had a clear shot of anyone who was standing on the elevated ground above them. The dense tree branches would also prevent anyone on higher ground from successfully firing back at them.

He flinched when shots were fired again. Several branches above him were hit, and they fell to the ground in muted thuds. He leaned around the tree again. A paintball whizzed by his arm, so close that if were a centimeter further out, he would have been hit. Keith yelped and dove back behind the tree.

"Keith! Get over here!" Keith's head whipped around, and saw Coran quickly beckoning him. Keith hesitated for a second, and a low-hanging branch next to him cracked as a paintball collided with it. The sound prompted Keith to sprint to Coran, and he slid into position next to him.

"Can you see who it is?" Keith whispered, gun at the ready. Coran shook his head.

"No, unfortunately, but I have an inkling who it could be." Another paintball splattered inches from them, and Coran gulped nervously. "Though I seriously hope that I'm wrong." Keith opened his mouth, but shut it as a paintball hit a tree trunk next to him on the opposite side.

"Shit." He cursed. "We're pinned!" Coran nodded in agreement.

"Aye, we're like a dunsnout in a sneakle's cave." Keith paused his shooting to look over his shoulder at the man.

"What are you even- you know what, never mind." Another shot whizzed over their heads, and they quickly ducked. Keith let out a string of angry curses. "Who the hell can shoot through this mess?" He gestured angrily at the plethora of branches above him. Coran turned to him, and Keith saw his face turn white.

"Get down!" He yelled, pushing Keith to the ground. There was a sound of something splattering against a solid surface, and Keith froze. He looked up, and saw Coran with his hand on his chest. The older man's expression was of one of shock, and he slowly lifted his hand up. Bright blue paint dripped from his fingers, glittering menacingly in the light as a drop fell and landed on Keith's cheek. Coran gazed down at Keith's stunned face, and grinned, mustache twitching slightly.

"Well, looks like I'm out."

His gun fell to the ground, and his body followed shortly after. After a second of stunned silence, Keith scrambled to his knees and to Coran's side.

"Who is it?" He asked frantically, lifting Coran's head up. "Did you see who's shot you?" Coran's eyes fluttered open, and he slowly lifted his head up to Keith's ear.

"It's…El Diablo." He whispered. Coran's hand then slid from Keith's shoulder and hit the ground. Keith furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What? What kinda stupid name is tha-?" He trailed off as Coran opened one eye and gestured behind Keith, then fell limp again. Keith looked behind him, and his eyes widened.

A familiar shadowed figure was on top of a small hill that looked down on them. Their gun lowered, and the clouds drifted away from the sun, dramatically revealing who it was. Keith wasn't surprised to see that it was his boyfriend. Lance stared down at him triumphantly; his body tense like a predator whose prey was in sight. His mouth drew up into a dangerous smirk, and he slowly dragged his thumb across his throat in a threatening gesture.

Keith didn't know whether to be scared or turned on. As a paintball missed him by a centimeter, he definitively decided that he was both. He leapt to his feet and quickly sprinted away, hoping to get away from Lance's deadly aim. Behind him, Lance let his gun rest at his side as he watched the lone figure retreat. Shaking his head, he tightened his grip on the gun and left himself slide down the side of the hill, clouds of dirt following him as his heavy boots scraped against the earth. Lance effortlessly landed on the bottom of the hill, dirt and rocks falling in his wake.

Pleased with his landing, Lance dusted off his shoulders and began walking in the direction where Keith disappeared. He paused for a second to offer Coran a hand. The older man took it and heaved himself off the ground. Chuckling to himself, Coran clapped a hand on Lance's shoulder.

"That was an excellent shot, lad! But I'm afraid you're going to have a bit of difficulty catching up to Keith." Lance laughed.

"It wouldn't be fun if were easy though!" He then used his fingers to give a mini-salute to Coran. "See you later man!" With that said, Lance sped off after Keith, the soft dirt muffling his footsteps. Coran watched him go until he was no longer visible. Sighing, he picked his paintball gun off the ground and began walking to the exit, where he would meet up with the others who were out.

* * *

Keith's feet pounded heavily on the ground as paintballs exploded on the ground behind him. He didn't have to look around to know that Lance was hot on his heels. Several feet in front of him, he spotted two large trees, whose low-hanging branches were twisted in what could be used as cover. He made a sharp turn and dove behind the trunks, slipping a little on the leaves that coated the ground. He then swung his gun around and fired at the Lance. His boyfriend fell to the ground in an impressive roll and crouched behind a tree several feet in front of Keith's.

Keith fired his gun again to make sure Lance stayed behind cover. He ducked behind the trunk and pressed his back against it, ignoring the little twigs that poked his neck and sides. A bead of sweat dripped down his face, and he quickly swiped it away. Keith risked a peek around the tree, and immediately had to duck back before he was hit. He heard Lance laugh.

"I think I like it when you play hard to get, babe. It'll make it even more fun when I catch you." His boyfriend taunted. Keith gave a bark of laughter.

"Prepare to be disappointed then." He called back. In his mind's eye, he could see Lance's smirk. There was a rustle of grass, and Keith saw Lance appear next to him. Thinking fast, Keith jumped to the side and fired his gun several times. Lance was forced into an awkward hop-skip to avoid the onslaught of paintballs.

Keith watched as Lance looked around, apparently searching for cover. Keith tried in vain to shoot him before he could get away, but he was slippery as an eel. Lance shot him a quick smirk before retreating into the trees, in the direction of Red Team's base. Keith quickly shot after him, determined to get him before he could get to his base. He knew that if he followed Lance directly, he wouldn't catch him in time. That fucker was too fast with his long gangly legs. He looked to his side, and saw a possible shortcut. It would either lead him right in front of Lance, or he would run smack dab into a dead end. That, or he'll fall and break something.

However, Keith was competitive, and he would be damned if he got stuck with litter-box cleaning duty for a month. So he decided to take the risk. He sharply veered off the path, and leapt onto several rocks, bounding from one to another. Some shifted underneath him, but he didn't lose his balance. Keith leapt to a fallen tree trunk and sprinted across it, then jumped and vaulted off a large rock. He flew through the air for a second, and then landed heavily on the ground, dust and leaves scattering around him.

He looked up, and Lance was right in front of him, whose mouth dropped in surprise. Keith straightened and pointed his gun at him, but Lance didn't give him the opportunity to shoot. He sprinted towards the trees, shooting as he ran. Keith twirled to dodge, and followed him.

For a second, he lost sight of Lance. Keith slowed to a stop, and looked around warily. He could handle the other man when he was visible; it was when Lance disappeared it became a problem. He took a few steps forward, and finally spotted the blue armband through the trees. Lance had climbed on top of a pile of large rocks, shielded by thick trees. Keith tried to fire at him, but the paintballs bounced harmlessly off the tree branches. He snorted in frustration, and let his gun fall to his side. At least Lance couldn't shoot at him from where he was. All Keith had to do was step a few paces further, get a clear shot, and shoot first. Lance would have nowhere to run.

Lance, however, was not daunted by the situation. He watched patiently as Keith crept closer. Then, he raised his gun. It would be a difficult shot, but he could make it. He had to make it, or he was a goner. Taking a deep breath, Lance steadied his hand, aimed, and applied pressure to the trigger. The gun jerked as it fired. The paintball shot through the air, directly at its intended target, and then harmlessly collided with a branch. Keith froze, and Lance frowned slightly. Lower- he had to aim lower. He pulled the trigger once more, and this time his aim was true. Faster than the eye could follow, the paintball whizzed through the air, through the branches, and collided with its target.

Keith grunted with shock. He looked down, and over his chest was a splatter of red paint. He slowly looked back up at Lance's triumphant smile. Lance swung his gun over his shoulder, and climbed down the rocks, taking his own sweet time. He sauntered up to Keith, giving him a saucy wink.

"I win, pretty boy. Have fun cleaning the litter boxes."

Then, without warning, he stepped closer, until their noses were nearly touching. Keith didn't know how to feel about the gleam in his boyfriend's eyes. "But you know," Lance whispered, reaching up and letting two fingers slowly walk up Keith's chest, until they were gently lifting up his chin, " back there, when you were dodging and acting all 'warrior-boy'," his breath ghosted over Keith' lips and purred", _it was really sexy_."

Keith gulped. But just as he leaned in, Lance pulled back. He teasingly tapped a finger on Keith's nose, laughing at the scowl that appeared on his boyfriend's face. "See you later, babe." Lance chuckled, and stepped away. "Don't worry, I'll let you get your revenge later when you come over to my place tonight." He winked again at Keith's reddening face, and sashayed away, putting more swing in his hips than necessary. Keith was left staring after him; feeling a mixture of dazed, irritated, and aroused. Shaking his head and scowling, he whipped around to walk away, only to run straight into a tree.

* * *

Yards away, dirt crunched under Pidge's boots as she weaved between trees and jumped over protruding rocks. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear yells and paintball guns firing. She smirked; the war was escalating. Prowling through the shadows, she went deeper into Red Territory. She had already sneaked past Shay and Keith with ease. However, she had been a breath away from getting caught by Coran. Luckily, her stealth did not fail her, and she was able to escape the man, and now was nearly at her goal.

Finally, she saw a splash of red amongst the dark green trees. A bright red flag was tied to a metal pole, similar to the one in the Blue Team's base. Pidge peeked from behind a tree. She was so close to the flag, all she had to do was run a few feet and seize it, and the Blue Team would win. There was just one, teensy problem.

Shiro was standing right in front of it.

Pidge silently cursed to herself and ducked behind a tree. He hasn't seen her yet, and she would prefer to keep it that way. For a moment, she wondered if she could get Lance to help her. He could distract Shiro while she grabbed the flag. This idea was dashed as soon as she heard Lance and Allura's distant yells. Paintball guns were fired, and more yells carried though the forest. Pidge sighed to herself and shifted her position. It looks like they were busy, so she would have to do this alone.

A small amount of reluctance pricked the back of her head, and her heart jumped at the thought of her going against him. Pidge tightened her grip on her gun, and forced these thoughts to retreat. This was war, and she wasn't going to fail her team.

After psyching herself up, she quickly glanced around for any Red Team members before running to the next tree over. Her light feet made no noise, and Shiro didn't look her way. She had to be careful though, he was looking around the area in a complete circle. Timing it so she would move when he looked away, she ducked behind the next tree. Slowly, inch by inch, she made her way closer to her goal.

She narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her. He was standing close to the flag, so it would be hard to snatch it from behind him. She would have to draw him away from it somehow, and she had a feeling that it would not be easy. Perhaps she could shoot at him from one side, and while he was distracted, she could run over to the other side and try to sneak up behind him…No, that wouldn't work. She didn't have enough time, and he would see her.

A paintball exploded against the tree next to her, and she nearly leapt out of her skin. She's been spotted! She ducked behind a tree and peeked out. Shiro was standing with his gun at the ready, smiling slightly at her.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to get the flag that easily." He called out. Pidge's adrenalin was now pumping through her, giving her a boost of confidence. She smirked, and her gaze flickered to his gun, and then back up at him.

"Oh? And here I was thinking that you would just give it to me." Shiro laughed.

"Unfortunately, that won't be happening any time soon."

"'Soon' is a relative term, y'know." Pidge replied. She didn't give him a chance to answer, and sprinted out from the cover of her tree. She swung her gun and shot as she ran. Her aim was way off, but it got Shiro to go on defense. She didn't have a plan, so she would have to wing it. She knew Shiro was going to shoot at her again, so she put on an extra burst of speed and literally dove for a tree.

She hit the ground hard, and skid to a stop. Pidge winced, and scrambled to stand. Her jeans were now ripped at the knees, and large green stains covered the legs. At least they were an old pair. She risked looking down to inspect her knees, and breathed out a small sigh of relief when she saw no blood.

"Pidge, are you ok? That looked pretty rough…" Shiro asked from behind the tree. Pidge nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just worry about your own sorry ass, because I'm gunna be kicking it in a second!" That got another laugh from Shiro, and Pidge momentarily felt proud of herself. She grinned and swung her gun around to fire at him. She missed, but it was close. Shiro leapt out of the way, and fired back.

Several minutes of firing back and forth later, Pidge realized that they were in a stalemate. If Shiro tried to run around the tree and get her, he would leave the flag open for Pidge to take. If Pidge left her spot from behind the tree and tried to rush the flag, she would be an open target. Her mind buzzed rapidly as she thought of possible solutions. After a quick glance around the tree one more time, a plan formed in her mind. Shiro's aim was better than hers at a long distance, but movement wise, he wasn't as fast. This weakness could be exploited to her advantage.

She bent her legs and pushed off the ground. Dirt flew from underneath her shoes as she sprinted along the edge of the clearing. Paintballs exploded behind her. She swiveled around and shot at Shiro, who was forced to lower his gun in favor of dodging. At this moment, Pidge skid to a stop. As her heels buried themselves into the ground, Pidge pointed her gun and fired. The ground slid from under her, and she was forced down.

Her knees once again hit the ground, but she didn't notice the sting. Shiro stood frozen several feet in front of her, mouth open slightly in surprise. Out of pure dumb, _incredible_ luck, a paintball had hit its mark. Green paint was splattered against Shiro's left side, inches below the general area of his heart. Pidge let her gun fall to her side.

"Holy shit. That actually worked." She said in awe. Shiro blinked, looking at the paint, and then back at her. She grinned at him, still a bit dizzy from the lack of oxygen after running. Clumps of dirt fell from her knees as she stood up. She jogged past Shiro and toward the flag, and victoriously plucked it off the pole. A sound similar to an air horn echoed through the range, and the game was officially over.

Pidge felt a sense of pride as she gripped the red cloth. Her team won their first game, and she was the one to get the flag! A hand reached into her field of vision, and her gaze trailed upwards, across an arm, shoulder, neck, and then eventually met Shiro's eyes.

"Good game." He said. His eyes shone with something that looked like looked almost like… admiration? Pidge's stomach flipped as she grasped his hand, giving it a shake.

"Thanks." She replied, and if her hand lingered a bit too long on his, Shiro didn't say anything about it. Pidge was forced to reluctantly release his hand when she couldn't hold it any longer without making it weird. Shiro let his hand fell to his gun and his shouldered it with a huff.

"We'd better get going. The others are probably already back by now." Pidge nodded in agreement, and they stepped through the trees and onto a small, distinct path on the edge of the forest.

They walked side-by-side in complete silence for a moment, and then, with her brain still buzzing with adrenaline, Pidge's gaze flickered up at the man next to her.

"You know," she said, making him quickly glance down at her, "the flag was easier to get than I thought it would be." Shiro's mouth twitched into a smile.

"Hey, in my defense, it's really hard to hit a moving target." Pidge let out a small snort of laughter.

"By that you mean you're slow, old man." Shiro suddenly increased his strides, leaving her behind. Pidge yelped and had to jog to catch up to him.

"You were saying?" He asked, not looking at her but smiling. Pidge huffed at him.

"There's a difference between sprinting short distances and keeping up with someone walking faster than you!"

Shiro didn't say anything to that, but he did slow down; looking pleased with himself. Grateful for this, Pidge was able to fall into an easy pace next to him. Just not too close next to him. They slipped once again into silence, and Pidge didn't know what to say to break it. She opted for looking around and surveying the damage they did with their paintballs.

Paint splotches littered the ground and trees, giving the allusion that someone had taken a dripping paintbrush and waved it all around. Most splatters were old and dried, but some were gleaming fresh. Briefly, she wondered who got hit. Obviously, there were members of the other team still in play before she got the flag, or else the game would have ended sooner.

Something brushed her arm, and she flinched slightly. She was slightly dismayed to see that Shiro's arm was the culprit. It appears that the path had narrowed without her knowledge, leaving just enough room for two people to walk closely side-by-side. Shiro must've not noticed either, or else he would have either walked in front or behind her to make more room.

Pidge risked another glance at him. He wasn't looking at her, instead he was focused straight ahead. His arm brushed hers again, and she was immediately aware of how unnatural his arm felt. She involuntarily looked down, and saw that it was his arm that was made of metal. Or well, it _looked_ like it was made of metal, which was highly unlikely. In this day and age, it's near impossible to get a fully functioning, titanium prosthetic arm that was connected to the nervous system and everything. Most of them were still experimental, and certainly not ready for commercial use. So, the chances of a normal guy getting one is next to zero.

And that's why, at first glance, Pidge thought it was some sort of fashion statement. Now that she's got view of it at a close distance, it looks…pretty real. But, what if it really is real? She couldn't just ask him how he lost his arm in the first place and where he got the replacement. That would be acting too...familiar with him. Besides, it can't be real, the functions are way too realistic, certainly nothing like all the titanium prosthetics her dad has shown her.

So, that only leaves one option: it was some sort of an elaborate…costume, of sorts.

Pidge studied the man next to her. He didn't strike her as the type to incorporate cosplay into his daily life. At the veterinary clinic, he wore a long-sleeved lab coat and gloves, so it was impossible to tell if he was still wearing the costume while at work. But every time she saw him outside of work, he was wearing it.

Well, what was she to judge? If he had a… peculiar fashion taste, she had no right to stop him. And it wasn't like it looked bad or anything. It actually looked quite appealing. He's certainly able to pull off the "Winter-Soldier" look.

She didn't know how long she was staring at him, but apparently it was long enough to grab his attention.

"Is something the matter?"

Pidge snapped to attention so fast it nearly hurt.

"N-No, I just-"

"There you two are!"

Allura's timing couldn't be more impeccable. They made it back to the designated waiting area just in time to save Pidge from another embarrassment. Pidge breathed a silent sigh of relief as she and Shiro stepped into the clearing. Allura was walking over to them. "I was worried you got lost or something!" She said with relief. Pidge blatantly ignored the way Lance was wiggling his eyebrows at them.

"Oh please, we're not Lance." Pidge sniped, giving her childhood friend a quick smirk. Lance got his petty revenge by marching over to her and hoisting her over his head. She shrieked and he cackled.

"Such disrespect! How dare you talk to your fearless leader like that? Ans after all I did to lead us to victory?" He grinned as she struggled in his arms.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one who got the flag!" Pidge rolled her eyes. At this, Lance's grin softened and he pulled her into a crushing hug.

"That you did, my petite kumquat, that you did!"

Pidge could barely breathe in his hold, and once Hunk and Allura joined in, she decided to give up on it altogether. When they finally let go a few seconds later, she spent the next minute sucking precious oxygen into her lungs. She nearly chocked on air when Hunk clapped her on the back.

"I wish I could've seen it!" Hunk said with pride. "You'll have to tell me all about it after this!" Pidge smiled at him once she was sure she wasn't going to pass out.

"Don't worry big guy. We'll have plenty of time to talk about everything later."

A staff member walked up to their group, silencing any chatter.

"Congratulations, Blue Team! You're the winners for this round!" Lance cheered obnoxiously, but was quickly silenced by the rest of the group. "Now, the next round is beginning!" The man continued. "Everyone, please follow me to the next area, where Round Two will be held. There, you will trade out your paintball guns for new, fully loaded ones."

The man turned and walked down a wide pathway. The two teams watched his back for a moment, and then looked at each other. The Blue Team smirked at the Red Team, who grinned challengingly back. Then, without a word, they quickly followed the man down the path, ready for the beginning of another battle.

* * *

 **Eh? Eh? Whaddya think? A high 'meh', or a low 'meh'? Well, I think it could've been worse. Whew, this was a looong chapter, the longest I've ever written I think. Hopefully this will hold y'all over until...whenever I update next. But hey, finals are coming up, so after that, I'll be able to write some more! Now if I only had an idea of what to write...Welp, back to the drawing board I guess.**

 **Also, it's almost CHRISTMAS! I absolutely LOVE Christmas, and I hope all of you beautiful people have a very merry Christmas season this year! Well, I gotta go now, but remember to review, or not, it's you're choice! This is ArtistFox signing off, and I'll see y'all in the next chapter!.**


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